It was the tae kwon do championship, and competitor Michael Tang needed something to help him concentrate, to calm his pumped pre-competition energy. He turned to the one thing he knew would work: music.
Strapping on his headphones and cueing up some techno-trance music, he closed his eyes and began to visualize himself going into the ring, winning the first round, then the second. "I used the music as the soundtrack of the day," Tang recalls of the 2001 match. "It put me into a more relaxed state of mind and helped me focus." He kept the music in his head throughout the event. The result? He won the U.S. national title.
Athletes work hard to reach a state of internal calm, harnessing their mind power to stay intense, but not frantic. Music helps them get into that zone, offering flow, control, focus. It helps them manage the pain of stressing their bodies to levels undreamed of by most three-times-a-week joggers. And it becomes a positive diversion.
Fitness music -- In Monday's Health section, a photo caption with an article on music and athletic performance misspelled the last name of the deejay. He is Gabriel Diggs, not Biggs.
Fitness music -- In last week's Health section, a photo caption with an article on music and athletic performance misspelled the last name of the DJ. He is Gabriel Diggs, not Biggs.
How music affects athletic performance begins with the eighth nerve from the ear, which has two direct tracks: one that involves hearing, and another that goes straight to the vestibular system, that part of the cerebellum that manages balance and some motor functions. The same kinds of messages from the cerebellum that enable us to concentrate also encourage maximum performance. So when the right kind of music hits that eighth nerve, all sorts of good messages get sent to the cerebellum.
Humans are hard-wired to process music, both on a motor level and an emotional one, says Mark Bodner, director of research for the MIND Institute, a nonprofit brain research and education facility in Costa Mesa. "Certain music has certain structures that resonate with certain networks we're born with," he says. When those networks overlap with others, it can affect complex motor sequences such as athletic activities.
Music can trigger various emotional responses too, which may explain why athletes seek out certain types of music. Although some of those responses are learned, many of them are inherent. "Even if you're listening to something passively, it will elicit a very specific response," Bodner says. "It truly is tapping into something very innate."
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