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Does music make you stronger?
Hi,
I saw a "fact" account on twitter, write this:
"Listening to music increases your strength - Your brain is distracted by what you're hearing and doesn't concentrate on what you're lifting"
Now, is there merit to this? Because I replied suggesting that it does not make you stronger, because it is just distracting you. You are only able to lift what your body can, and that distraction is in the mind, and so just related to the perception of strength.
Now of course, if you are distracted, then you may be able to lift more. That may make you stronger in the long term. But I think the tweet is suggesting that at that moment, when you are lifting, the results of distraction is related to strength.
I've had a couple of people that wanted to "debate" this with me. I've stuck to what I think is right.
But what is right? Surely, the distraction does not make you immediately stronger?
I've tried googling this, but to no success. What do you think? Bonus points for anyone that can find credible sources, preferably with some science thrown in.
Thanks!
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Well, it does not. But it kinda raises your mood and make you feel comfortable, like if you had real life issues with something. Thats just my opinion, because music shall not make you strong, since you can gain strength by training like gym, or training your mind by reading educating books, i prefer books about psychology, our unconsciousness.
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You are right, but you might be underestimating the power of 'being distracted'. And you are mainly right because people who are debating you don't understand how human 'strength' is measured and what it actually means when we say a person is 'stronger' while listening to music.
Human endurance and pain responses are deeply subjective. They are based in an individuals perceptions of how much they can do, how tired they are, and how much pain they are in.
People may get excited when testing human 'strength' because it seems like an objective number that all science-y and trustworthy. After all, lifting 11 pounds is greater than lifting 10 pounds so we assume that means that the person is 'stronger' while listening to music.
Which is not simply not true.
All that tells us is that a person feels able to lift an extra pound. It tells us that while listening to music they made a different choice about what they could endure or manage.
And we've know that about music for AGES! Athletes and performers use it to 'pump themselves up'. Doctor's listen to music during surgery to improve focus. People even report feeling less pain when they swear or scream then when they have to stay silent during pain.
Feeling differently about these deeply subjective human experiences allows us to behave differently, even better, than we were able too before.
Are people actually 'stronger'. No. They are exactly as strong as they would be without music. Are they motivated and pumped up? More easily able to choose to do more? To push themselves? Absolutely.
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So basically I just googled: does music make you stronger
The top two results address your question directly and there are some references and links to studies as well (in the first link, you want to scroll down to point 3 and you can click the links in the text to view the studies they are referring to):
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
It appears that music does indeed help and it does so in more ways than just distraction.
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