Does warming up with different music tempos affect physical and psychological responses? The evidence from a chronobiological study

BACKGROUND: This study examined the effects of listening to different music tempos during warm-up on short-term maximal performance and psychological responses, as a function of times of day (TOD). METHODS: Fifteen well trained subjects (93.75% were semi-professional soccer players) randomly performed the 30-s continuous jump test (CJ30) for three morning sessions (07h00) and three evening sessions (17h00), separated by 48h of recovery, each after a warm-up under three different conditions: without music (NO-M), with music at 60 bpm (LOW-M), and with music at 120-140 bpm (HIGH-M). The maximal jump height (Hmax), mean jump height of all jumps (Hmean), and fatigue index (FI %) were measured during CJ30. Feeling states (FS) were determined after warm-up, and body temperature was controlled before/after warm-up, as well as after CJ30. RESULTS: Data analysis showed that Hmax, Hmean, and body temperature were higher at 17h00 than 07h00 in all experimental conditions. More-over, Hmax, Hmean and FS were better after warm-ups with LOW-M and HIGH-M compared to NO-M condition at both TOD, with a higher gain at 07h00. More importantly, Hmax, Hmean and FS were better after warm-up with HIGH-M than with LOW-M at both TOD, with a higher gain at 07h00. CONCLUSIONS: Although both music tempos were beneficial, warming-up with high music tempo (120-140 bpm) is better than warming-up with low music tempo (60 bpm) for improving short-term maximal performance and psychological responses whatever the TOD, especially in the morning hours.