Make Your Workouts Feel Easier

Do you lose that loving feeling for your workout about halfway through? Take along your iPod, and don't be surprised when you go longer and stronger than you've gone before. In one study, men who worked out to tunes found themselves going 11% longer without feeling like they were exerting themselves more.

Why? Music may simply be an effective distraction from your "don't know how much farther I can go" or "there are other things I should be doing right now" thoughts. Or tunes may boost your mood enough to take your mind off that jelly feeling in your legs. Or tunes may cause a brain change that actually makes the physical activity more automatic and less likely to require thoughts of sweat.

It doesn't matter if you get more from Mozart than Metallica, or vice versa. What may matter more than the type of music is that the beat matches what you're doing or is just slightly faster. Blasting it, however, is asking for trouble of another sort. Keep the sound low enough that it doesn't endanger your hearing, and take the earbuds out for at least 5 minutes every half hour. If your workout takes you outdoors, you should still be able to hear what's going on around you; you need to know when a bike or car is about to swoosh by.

There's one more compelling reason to take your tunes along: a mental boost. Working out to music squashes depression and may even enhance verbal fluency -- that means you talk more. So when you want to justify an iPod purchase, remember that it could make you healthier, happier, and more eloquent.