2019-07-01_Shape

bestrong+well

JULY/AUGUST 2019 60 SHAPE.COM

When you’re

lifting, Spinning,

boxing, or doing

HIIT or yoga, there’s

a certain level of phys-

ical exertion involved—

any wrist tracker that

keeps tabs on your heart

rate can measure it. But

your perceived exertion

is another story. That’s a

more squishy mental read-

ing that can override the real-

ity of how much you’re working.

Tweak this perception, and you

can go harder, happier, and longer.

First, prepare your playlist.

You already know how music

helps you power through

a long routine by amusing

your brain. In fact, with

the right tunes, a treadmill

run can feel 10 to 12 per -

cent easier, research

from Brunel University

London shows. But

music can also lift

your load postworkout. In another

Brunel study, when people lis-

tened to slow instrumental music

(about 71 beats per minute, akin

to a resting heart rate) right after

cycling, they recovered faster

by lowering their cortisol

levels and reducing how

keyed up they felt. “Heart

and respiration rates

and brain waves are

drawn into common

oscillation with the

rhythmic qualities

of music,” says author

Costas I. Karageor-

ghis, Ph.D.

A shot of caffeine an

hour beforehand helps

too. “By blocking the aden o-

sine receptor in the brain, caff eine

increases brain excitability and there-

by reduces the rate of perceived

exertion [RPE] for given work,” says

physiologist Adriano Eduardo Lima-

Silva, Ph.D., of Technological Fed-

eral University of Paraná, Brazil.

During your workout, you can

also make shifts that still main tain

your gains. HIIT too hard? In

a recent study in the journal

Perceptual and Motor Skills,

researcher Daniel Machado,

Ph.D., found that when

exercisers cut the dura-

tion or number of high-

intensity bouts in their

workouts by half, they

increased enjoyment

and reduced their RPE

while actually boosting

their anaerobic capacity

more than by

doing tougher

HIIT sessions. You

can also take it out-

side: Other re-

search by Mach-

ado shows exer-

cising outdoors

decreases your

RPE by provid-

ing distractions.

Cooldown time

is also key. In a study

at the Uni versity of

South Florida, partici-

pants who ran on a tread-

mill at diff erent speeds for

30 minutes formed their

impression of its difficulty

based on how they felt in the

last minutes rather than at the

toughest stretch. Walk it off, or

stretch for fi ve to wrap it up.

make your

WORKOUT seem easier

Your mind is a big factor in how long you last and how

strong you feel. Here’s how to train it.By Alyssa Sparacino

WELL LAB

Music helped

exercisers work

4 percent harder

during HIIT

without feeling it.

*

*Source: Study by Tom Brownlee, Ph.D.,

lecturer in sport and exercise physiology at

Liverpool John Moores University, for Sonos