Self-Selected Music and Exercise Motivation

Fitness pros appreciate music’s power to motivate clients to enjoy training and to work harder. Trainers and facility owners alike are challenged by how to select the right music to achieve the highest levels of client satisfaction. Indiana University researchers in Bloomington compared 183 participants divided into two groups of self-paced gym users: those who self-selected their workout music and those who trained in a gym with facility-selected music. The results showed that when gym goers are able to self-select their music, they are more motivated, experience more pleasure, and overall have higher satisfaction with their exercise.

The study is published in the International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing (2023; doi: 10.1504/IJSMM.2023.131950).

Question of the Month

Music motivates movement. What methods do you use to choose what music to play in your facility, given the diversity of tastes among clients? For facility owners, what policy do you use to select music for the fitness floor, or do you not play any music and allow clients to use their own headphones? For group fitness instructors or personal trainers, how do you handle satisfying the spectrum of musical preferences among clients? Have there been more or less successful policies or strategies implemented? Tell us about your experiences using the comments section below. We want to hear from you!