Revisiting the relationship between exercise heart rate and music tempo preference.

In the present study, we investigated a hypothesized quartic relationship (meaning three inflection 2 points) between exercise heart rate (HR) and preferred music tempo. Initial theoretical 3 predictions suggested a positive linear relationship (Iwanaga, 1995a, 1995b); however, recent 4 experimental work has shown that as exercise HR increases, there may be step-changes and 5 plateaus that punctuate the profile of music tempo preference (Karageorghis, Jones, &amp; Stuart, 6 2008). Tempi bands consisted of slow (95-100 bpm), medium (115–120 bpm), fast (135–140 7 bpm), and very fast (155–160 bpm) music. Twenty-eight active undergraduate students (mean 8 age = 20.6 years, SD = 0.9) cycled at exercise intensities representing 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90% 9 of their maximal HR reserve while their music preference was assessed using a 10-point scale. 10 The Exercise Intensity x Music Tempo interaction was significant, F(6.16, 160.05) = 7.08, p < 11 .001, ηp2 = .21, as was the test for a quartic trajectory in the exercise HR–preferred music tempo 12 relationship, F(19, 648) = 10.56, p < .001. Whereas slow tempo music was not preferred at any 13 exercise intensity, preference for fast tempo increased, relative to medium and very fast tempo 14 music as exercise intensity increased. The implications for the prescription of music in exercise 15 and physical activity contexts are discussed.