See Hear: psychological effects of music and music-video during treadmill running

Background: There is a paucity of work addressing the distractive, affect-enhancing, and motivational influences of music and video in combination during exercise.

Purpose: We examined the effects of music and music-and-video on a range of psychological and psychophysical variables during treadmill running at intensities above and below ventilatory threshold (VT)

Methods: Participants (N = 24) exercised at 10 % of maximal capacity below VT and 10 % above under music-only, music-and-video, and control conditions.

Results: There was a condition × intensity × time interaction for perceived activation and state motivation, and an intensity × time interaction for state attention, perceived exertion (RPE), and affective valence. The music-and-video condition elicited the highest levels of dissociation, lowest RPE, and most positive affective responses regardless of exercise intensity.

Conclusions: Attentional manipulations influence psychological and psychophysical variables at exercise intensities above and below VT, and this effect is enhanced by the combined presentation of auditory and visual stimuli.