Whistle While You Work Out

Do your treadmill sessions drone on like C-Span? Instead, think MTV and crank up some tunes. A new study from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia confirmed that listening to your favorite music will help you push harder in your workouts. Men who listened to music while going hard on an exercise bike for 10 minutes pedaled 11 percent farther than those who listened to silence or static for the same amount of time.

Music Makes the People Come Together

Science has backed up what anyone who has ever worked out with an iPod may have guessed: Listening to music makes exercise more fun, and that can help you stick to your routine. "Music inspires movement," says Costas Karageorghis, PhD, a sports psychologist at Brunel University in London. "Like smell, it can penetrate areas of the brain that language alone doesn't reach." In fact, research has shown that synchronizing the speed of music with exercise gets people to train harder.

In his latest study, Karageorghis compared participants' heart rates with the number of beats in music and found that matching the tempo to workout intensity mattered most for those who exercised the most strenuously. But you don't have to be training for a marathon to tailor your playlist to your workout. Choose inspirational, upbeat songs such as "The Best" by Tina Turner or "Spring" from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons for your warm-up and fast tracks with driving rhythms for the main part of your workout; Karageorghis likes Michael Jackson songs and "I Got You (I Feel Good)" by James Brown, whereas Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie has set world records by running while listening to John Larkin's "Scatman."

Burn some Beethoven

In a 2004 study at the University of California at San Diego, researchers irritated people by giving them a difficult task then nudging them to go faster. Afterward, the subjects listened to classical music, jazz, pop, or total silence. Silence was least calming--their blood pressure spiked almost 11 points. Jazz and pop relieved stress a bit more. But the BP of the classical-music listeners rose only 2 points. We suggest this starter kit: Bach's six unaccompanied cello suites; Beethoven's Concerto for Violin in D; Brahms's Violin Concerto in D, op. 77; and Mozart's symphonies 35 through 41.

Soothe the Savage Back

Cranking your favorite music may help eliminate back pain. In a study of 65 people who'd been hospitalized for chronic lower-back pain, researchers found that men who relaxed and listened to music for 25 minutes a day slept better and had less pain than men who didn't listen to music.

Listen for Calm

When you're anticipating a stressful situation--a performance review with the boss, a big presentation--listen to music while preparing. An Australian study found that music (specifically, Pachelbel's Canon in D) prevented stress-related reactions--spikes in heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels--in people preparing for an oral presentation. Those who prepared in silence had significant increases in all measures.

Beat It

Despite graphic evidence to the contrary--Keith Moon, John Bonham--drumming has proven health benefits. A recent study found that when staffers in a high-burnout industry participated in drumming sessions, they experienced a 50 percent improvement in mood that continued for at least 6 weeks. The people in this study also reported a decrease in fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Pick up a pair of sticks at the music store, crank up Live at Leeds, and slam away the day's stress.

Head Banger

Next time you have a song stuck in your head, blame your auditory cortex, not Beyonce....Dartmouth College researchers scanned the brain activity of people listening to music recordings containing gaps of silence. When participants knew the song, the auditory cortex stayed active during the gaps, as though "the music is playing in your head," says researcher David Kraemer, a graduate student in cognitive neuroscience. To exercise a song, try listening to it, then playing it all the way through in your mind.

Rock-a-bye Baby

Listening to soft music for 45 minutes before bedtime can slow breathing and heart rates, helping you drift off faster and slumber soundly according to a Case Western Reserve University study.

配樂健身有好處

你在踏車運動時是否覺得象在收聽C-Span電臺那么枯燥？若然，不妨考慮放點MTV，或播放幾首曲子試試。最近弗吉尼亞州的漢普敦－悉尼學院開展的一項研究證實：在健身運動期間聽聽自己最喜歡的音樂有助于加大運動量。騎車進行大運動量鍛煉的男子，如能在運動期間聽10分鐘音樂，騎車距離要比聽不到音樂的男子多11％。

音樂健身更專注

任何喜歡在運動期間同時聽iPod的人似乎都有一種感覺：聽音樂可令運動更有意思，從而有助于將運動進行到底。科學研究也證實這一點。倫敦布魯內爾大學運動心理學家科斯塔斯·卡拉吉奧吉斯博士說：“音樂有激發運動的功效。音樂和氣味一樣，可以滲透到人腦的某些區域，這些區域一般語言是滲透不到的。”事實上，有研究表明，若能讓音樂的節拍與動作節奏同步，就能讓人加大運動量。

卡拉吉奧吉斯最近做了一項實驗，他對參加實驗者的心率和音樂節拍之間的關系做了對比分析，結果發現：運動強度與音樂節拍比較協調的健身者，其健身運動往往都是最賣力的。不過，你也大可不必為了健身而刻意設計自己的播放清單，搞得象進行馬拉松訓練那么隆重。熱身的時候，可選一些歡快一點的喚醒式音樂，如蒂娜特納的《精選專輯》或維瓦爾第《四季》系列中的《春天》專輯；真正開始健身運動之后，大部分時間都可播放一些節奏快而有力的歌曲。卡拉吉奧吉斯自己就比較喜歡邁克爾·杰克遜的歌和詹姆士·布朗的《有了你》，而埃塞俄比亞長跑運動員格布雷塞拉西在比賽期間一邊跑一邊聽著約翰·拉金的《斯卡曼》，已經創造了好幾項世界記錄。

錄制考慮貝多芬

2004年，圣疊戈加州大學科研人員做了一項實驗，他們讓受試者從事一些高難度的作業，并不斷催促他們做快點，再快點，直到把受試者搞得心煩意亂大發脾氣為止。然后把他們分成4組，分別聽古典音樂、爵士樂、流行歌曲或者什么都不聽。實驗結果是：安靜環境對于平靜心情的作用最差——受試者的血壓幾乎升高11個百分點；爵士樂和流行歌曲的作用稍高一點；而聽貝多芬古典音樂的受試者血壓只升高了2個百分點。我們建議開始試用此法的音樂套裝為：巴赫的《無伴奏大提琴組曲》6首；貝多芬D大調小提琴協奏曲；勃拉姆斯D大調小提琴協奏曲，作品77號；以及莫扎特第35～41號交響曲。

腰酸背痛音樂治

播放最喜歡的音樂還有助于舒緩各種腰背疼痛癥。在一項有65名因慢性下腰痛疾而需要接受住院治療的病人參加的研究中，科研人員發現，那些能夠放松下來每天聽25分鐘音樂的病人，其睡眠效果要比不聽音樂的病人好一些，病痛也要輕一些。

平心靜氣音樂好

準備從事一些壓力較大的工作之前，例如準備接受老板對你的業務考核或準備大型業務報告之前，可以邊聽音樂邊準備。澳大利亞有一項研究發現，音樂（特別是帕赫貝爾的D大調卡儂曲）對那些準備演講的人具有防止出現各種與情緒壓力有關的應激反應的作用，可緩解演講者出現心率加快、血壓升高、皮質醇水平升高等現象。那些演講前不聽音樂的人，上述指標均明顯升高。

敲敲打打有好處

打擊樂對身體健康也有好處（不過也有相反看法，如凱斯·穆恩和約翰·本哈姆提供的證據就很有意思）。最近有人開展一項研究，辦法是讓高體力消耗行業的員工參加打擊樂健身，結果有50％（的人）情緒得到改善，且持續至少6周之久。參與研究的受試者也說疲勞感、焦慮感及壓抑感都有所減緩。建議你去樂器店買上一對節拍器，回家后播放《活力里茲》搖滾樂，然后盡情地敲打去吧，把一天的壓力盡數釋放掉。

搖頭晃腦也放松

你什么時候覺得頭腦中總有某一首歌曲揮之不去，那都是大腦聽覺皮層“惹的禍”，而不是碧昂斯的歌聲多么有穿透力。達特茅斯學院的科研人員讓受試者聽音樂，音樂與音樂之間留出一段無音空間，然后對受試者的腦電波進行掃描，結果是：如果受試者聽到的是熟悉的歌曲，那么在無音時段，他們的腦電波仍然保持活躍，感覺就象腦子里還在播放著剛剛聽過的歌曲，認知神經科學專業研究生大衛·克雷默如是說。如果你希望學唱某一首歌，你可以先試聽一遍，然后在心里一直“播放” 下去。

輕柔舒緩好睡覺

凱斯西儲大學的一份研究報告表明：睡覺前，聽一聽柔和的催眠曲45分鐘，有利于放慢心率和呼吸頻率，這樣有助于快點入睡，而且也睡得香甜。