Maleha Akhtar

Music is the easiest way to get your mind to focus and take away distractions in the gym. If you see an athlete with headphones on, they’re in their own world, preparing for the win!

Every athlete has a pregame ritual: the thing they do before every game. Whether it’s football players knocking their helmets together or a baseball player taping up their wrists, every athlete has a ritual. One of the most common pregame rituals across sports is listening to music. A lot of athletes have a go-to song to get themselves in the right mindset. I personally love music before a game. It always gets me going and puts me in the right mindset to compete. But sometimes I wonder, why is that? Why do athletes listen to music before games? What does music do to our brains to make us feel locked in? 

Music is scientifically proven to get our brains going during exercise. According to a study done by Christopher G. Ballmann of the National Library of Medicine, music does help to relieve some stress from exercising. “While specific modalities of exercise elicit varying physiological responses, listening to music has been shown to modulate many of those responses (i.e., heart rate, catecholamines, muscle activation) often leading to improved performance”.

 In other words, music can soothe the brain into thinking that whatever exercise you are doing isn’t actually as hard as it may be. This can often improve endurance in some sports that involve running, as runners feel like they can go further while listening to music. Music isn’t just something that runners listen to pass the time while running, but it’s scientifically proven that it can help them go further and push on past their usual limits.

But the benefits of music aren’t just physical, theyŕe mental too. In the same study, music proved to improve the mood of an athlete while performing the exercise, allowing them to have more vigor and confidence after or while listening to music. According to Ballmann, “listening to music during exercise may positively impact psychological changes, which may allow for favorable responses during an exercise challenge.” Music can play a part in an athlete’s performance, as it may impact an athlete’s mood and confidence. Listening to music before a game can help build up that confidence that gets the athlete going and ready to put on a show.

But you don’t need a study to tell you music helps you lock in. Senior Henry Faber says that music helps him get in the zone before his track meets. “I do track, and music helps me lock in, especially positive music because I like to be in a positive mindset before I run,” Faber said. Faber feels that his choice of music helps contribute to his performance. “It gives me this confidence, and I feel like I have a bad meet when I’m not in a positive mindset”. For Henry, music isn’t just background noise, but part of his pre-race routine and mental preparation.

It’s clear that music isn’t just beats and lyrics; it’s a mental booster. It gets you locked in and in the zone, and it can directly improve your performance no matter what you do. So next time you’re at the gym or in the locker room before a game, turn on those tunes, and enjoy all the mental and physical benefits that come with listening to music.