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EFFECTS OF CALM AND ROCK MUSIC ON SIT AND REACH PERFORMANCE

Abstract

H. Robinson, R. Wilson, J. Descoteaux, and W. M. Silvers

Whitworth University, Spokane, WA

Music has been found to have many positive effects on an individual during exercise. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of calm and rock music on sit and reach (SR) performance. METHODS: Twenty-four, college-aged males (n=5) and females (n=19) completed sit-and-reach tests in three conditions (calm music, rock music, and no music). For each test session, participants were introduced to a calm music, rock music, or no music condition. The music for the calm and rock conditions was pre-selected by the researchers and standardized in length and volume for all participants. Participants were first seated in a chair for 5-min to establish resting conditions. Thereafter, participants cycled on a Monark 828e ergometer for 10-min at a self-selected comfortable pace to warm-up for the SR test. After each participant had completed the warm up, they immediately performed a “best of three” series of SR tests to measure posterior chain flexibility. For the calm and rock music conditions, the participants listened to the assigned music during the 5-min sitting and10-min warm up periods, and during the SR test. RESULTS: A repeated-measures ANOVA (a set at p ≤ 0.05) indicated no statistical differences for SR performance between the three conditions (p = 0.76). CONCLUSIONS: It is certainly possible that this specific research finding was due to a Type II error because of a high observed beta (b = 0.92). However, the descriptive data appeared very similar across conditions, which suggests that the statistical result is correct. The primary explanations for the observed results were: 1) that the participants were not exposed to the music for a long enough period of time to elicit a change in SR performance, or 2) the chosen music conditions simply do not affect SR performance. Future research is needed to investigate the use of a metronome to pace SR trials, variable durations, genres, or volumes of music, and different sample populations.

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