The Effects of Music Genres on Average Heart Rate During Exercise

Different types of music can cause a fluctuation of heart rate and intensity during exercise due to the variance in rhythm. This project evaluates heart rate and other physiological responses during exercise while being exposed to two genres of music and a control variable of no music. The two genres of music used for the study include rap and classical for a duration of fifteen minutes on a cycling machine set at the lowest resistance possible. The two genres of music chosen was rap and classical due to their distinctive differences in slow and fast pace in rhythm. [Methodology] The subjects consisted of Parkland College students between the ages of 20-22. In this cross-sectional study each participant performed two trials of classical music, rap music, and no music during their workout. The heart rate was recorded with a Polar H7 sensor through the Polar beat app for a total of six sessions per subject. [Results] Most of the participants experienced a higher average heart rate during the rap music sessions than the no music and classical music sessions. There was no significant data proposing that no music sessions increased heart rate over sessions with music. [Conclusion] Rap music will cause an increase in heart rate due to the faster pace in music while classical music will lower the average heart rate during a workout session