Do gym users prefer to listen to music with headphones or not while exercising on the ergometer, during different periods of the day?
Introduction
Music and motivation playlists have become important tools in modern day sports training, especially when it comes to rowing. During training sessions and performance tests involving the ergometer, specific music played at a high tempo has been shown to help athletes work through the psychological aspect of this exercise. In this observation study, I will explore the use of music and motivation playlist amongst average gym users, specifically those training on the ergometer machines. Karageorghis, C. I., (1999) has indicated that the use of music is highly beneficial and has powerful effects on athletes who do so. “It has the effects to lift spirits, capture attention, evoke memories, increase work output, reduce inhibitions and encourage rhythmic movements”.
Karageorghis, C. I., (2006) also discusses the linear relationship between heart rate and music tempo during exercise, noting that it can positively increase work output and help the athlete perform better and faster.
Hypothesis:
HA: There are more significant headphone users on the ergometer.
HN: There are no significant headphone users on the ergometer.
Design
This study was designed to ensure and facilitate observations in which all participants were treated equally, without the use of an ethical proposal. Therefore, all the results in this study have been gathered solely through observational methods.
Variables
The independent variable for this study is time.
The dependent variable, meanwhile, is the decision to listen to music through headphones while using the ergometers.
Participants
The participants in this study are all members of the “City Athletics” gym in central London called Mayfair, all of whom were over the age of 18. While the total number of individual participants is not known, the total number observed for this study was 115. I0t was therefore impossible to calculate the total number of individuals through observation alone, as many of these gym users might have been returning to the gym for a second session or on another given day.
Results
The results from my observation made over 10 days revealed that there were more people who used headphones while using the ergometer than those who didn’t. This was observed in both the morning and afternoon sessions.
During the 8-9 am observation, the mean value of those participants who used headphones was 4.2 compared to a mean of 1 for those who did not. In the afternoon observation, the mean value was even greater for those who used headphones, coming in at 5.2, compared to those who didn’t use headphones, which came in at 1.1. By applying a pair t-test, which assumes equal variance between those who used headphones and those who didn’t, the 8-9 am observation yielded (P=.00014) while the afternoon observation yielded(P=.0000047). These results demonstrate that there is a significant statistical difference among those subjects using headphones.
Graph 1: Graphic representation of gym users who chose to listen to music with headphones compared to those who didn’t use headphones.
Graph 2: Stacked Bar chart showing the visual representation of the observation made over the 10-day period.
The paired t-test generated results of t (9) = 1.8 P=.0001, which demonstrates a statistical difference between those who use headphones over those who don’t, after taking into consideration both observation times.
Discussion
A statistical difference was also observed between both the morning and afternoon groups, for which the headphone use was P= .23 and non-headphone use P= .82. This indicates there is a higher probability of people using headphones in the evening than in the morning. However, this could also be the result of there simply being more gym users in the evening compared to the morning. However, because a total number of gym users could not be calculated for the study, these results remain somewhat limited.
Limitations
The limitations discovered in this study include being able to calculate the exact amount of gym users in the venue. The Mayfair gym was continuously packed with executive professionals attending training sessions either before or after their work day, rendering exact calculations through observation impossible. Limiting the observation periods to two sessions also presented problems as this does not accurately reflect the entire gym user population.
References
Karageorghis, C. I., (1999). Music in sport and exercise: Theory and practice. The Sport Journal, 2(2). Retrieved March 28, 2007,
Karageorghis, C. I., Jones, L., & Low, D. C., (2006). Relationship between exercise heart rate and music tempo preference. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 26, 240–250.
