The goal of this thesis was to examine whether listening to music while running at sub maximal effort has an impact on the gait, distance and speed and effort at running. Ten volunteers were included in the study, five male and five female. Their average age was 31 (12,4) years, average weight 77,5 (13,8) kg and average height 176,2 (6,8) cm. Subjects performed a 20 minutes long run divided into four segments, each segment 5 minutes long. In three of those segments subjects simultaneously ran and listened to music with tempos of 130, 160 and 190 beats per minute. In one of the segments no music was played. Segments with music of different tempos were set in random order.
Results have shown that listening to slower (130 bpm) and mid tempo (160 bpm) music while running does not affect gait cycle, speed, distance or effort at running. However, listening to the fast tempo music (190 bpm) increases distance, speed and effort. Cadence was also not affected when subjects listened to the music; therefore we can presume that the increase of speed, distance and effort derived from increased gait length of runners. Simultaneously listening to fast music (190 bpm) while running most likely affects central (muscular activation) and peripheral factors (contractile mechanism), which are important for muscle force development.
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