Listening to Music and Acting energised

Listening to Music and Acting Energised

How to Perform the Technique

The first step in this technique was to record the results of a hand-grip test using a dynamometer of five subjects in the class and calculate an average which was 50.74.

The next step involved the actual energizing technique which involved the 5 subjects cycling on static bicycles for six minutes at a steady pace. Whilst cycling they were listening and watching a motivational video that including historic speeches and motivational music that included mood words and famous quotes. The idea was that watching the video would increase the arousal levels of the subjects and that cycling on the bicycles would increase blood flow and their heart rates so that they would obtain a higher score in the hand-grip test.

After the six minutes, each subject retook the hand-grip test and again the average was calculated. This time the average was 51.74, showing a percentage change of 1.97%.

 

How this technique might be used

Many athletes may find it hard to reach their own personal level of optimal arousal. Using this energizing technique can help them to reach their level of optimal arousal which will have a positive effect on their performance. It can be used just prior to an event to quickly increase the arousal of athletes and get them in a ‘pumped’ state of mind as adrenaline is released into the body and prepares an athlete for the performance. If an athlete goes into an event where they are under-aroused then they will not perform to their potential and they may revert back to a badly learnt skill as that is the dominant response.

What I thought of the technique

Personally I feel that this is a very effective technique to use to increase arousal levels and become energized. Personally I would often use this form of technique prior to a match or training to increase my motivation and ‘pump’ myself up so that I am ready for action. I think it is effective as listening to music and watching motivational videos increase the heart rate and the blood flow which produces the adrenaline needed to prepare the body for action much like a warm-up does. However I also feel that how an individual prepares for an event is very personal and for certain people this technique may not having any effect on where they find it useless. Some individuals are energized and motivated enough just by the thought of the event and listening to music may only increase their levels of arousal so much that it actually has a negative effect on their performance. I think that this technique is more suitable for sports that require high levels of arousal and that are very physically demanding such as football and rugby. From our experiment there was an increase in the scores of the hand-grip test which shows that this technique is effective.