Music Listening Alters Kinetics and Kinematics of Running: A Cross-Over Study Comparing Gender, Running Speeds, and Surfaces

Music listening while exercising leads to physiologic, psychological, and biomechanical effects. The distracting role of music on runner’s attention is also documented, with potentially detrimental effects. This study tested the hypotheses that (a) music would lead to biomechanical changes; (b) effects would differ between sexes, running surfaces, and speeds; and (c) biomechanical changes would be larger in subjects displaying higher distractibility at the attention tests. Fifty young casual runners (25W/25M) volunteered to perform 400-meter runs at 8 and 10 km×h21 on treadmill and athletics track while exposed or not to in-ear, 85-decibel tempo music. Running biomechanics was assessed by wearable inertial units. Main effects of music and interactions with sex, surface, and speed were tested by repeated-measures analysis of variance. Second, runners’ distractibility was tested by Sustained Attention to Response Task and Stroop attention tests, administered while exposed or not to the same tempo music. Significance was set for p, 0.05. Music led to significant changes in most biomechanical parameters only when running on the treadmill. Although sex and speed were not significant factors, music effects proved slightly but significantly larger in women than in men, and at 8 km×h21 running speed compared with 10 km×h21 running speed. Regarding distractibility tests, men made significantly more errors in the Stroop test when exposed to music, but this finding was uncorrelated with music effects on biomechanics. Music listening altered running biomechanics only on the treadmill. Such alterations may reduce running efficiency, warranting consideration from sports professionals, athletes, and joggers exercising on the treadmill because they may lead to enhanced risk for musculoskeletal injuries.