Effects of Self-Selected Music on Maximal Bench Press Strength and Strength Endurance

Listening to music during strength workouts has become a very common practice. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of listening to self-selected music on strength performances. Thirty-one resistance-trained men (M age = 24.7yr., SD = 5.9; M height = 178.7cm, SD = 4.7; M body mass = 83.54kg, SD = 12.0) were randomly assigned to either a Music group (n = 19) or to a Control group (n = 12). Both groups took part in two separate sessions; each session consisted in a maximal strength test (1-RM) and a strength-endurance test (repetitions to failure at 60% 1-RM) using the bench press exercise. The music group listened to music in the second assessment session, while the control group performed both tests without music. Listening to music induced a significant increase of strength endurance performance and no effects on maximal strength. These findings have implications for the use of music during strength workouts.