Running to the beat: Does listening to music affect running cadence and lower extremity biomechanics?

Background: Gait retraining can be effective in altering lower extremity biomechanics and reducing risk of injury. In attempts to alter running gait, previous studies used metronomes to manipulate cadence.

Research question: The aim of this study was to determine if manipulating running cadence via music could alter lower extremity biomechanics.

Methods: Eighteen runners ran at a self-selected speed (SS) and ran to music where the beats per minute (bpm) of the songs was increased by 5% (+5%) and 10% (+10%). Kinematic and kinetic data were collected with a motion capture system and a triaxial accelerometer. A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to test the effect of bpm (SS, +5%, +10%) on cadence, heart rate and peak vertical acceleration. A statistical parametric mapping (SPM) one-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to test the effect of bpm on the sagittal plane kinematic signals during stance phase.

Results: There was a significant main effect for bpm on the discrete metrics. Post hoc tests showed significant differences in heartrate from SS to + 5%, + 5% to + 10%, and SS to 10%. There were no significant differences between cadence or peak acceleration.

Significance: In the current study, listening to music with faster bpm was not shown to increase cadence and decrease peak tibial accelerations during running.