Boosting Endurance and Mood
New Studies Explore How Music and Brain Training Boost Exercise Endurance and Mood
Anonymous
A professional cyclist recovering from a serious crash used brain endurance training, which combines mental and physical challenges to help athletes build resilience to mental fatigue. Separately, a small study of 24 healthy young adults found that a 10-minute, very slow treadmill run was followed by improved mood and performance on an attention and self-control test, alongside increased activity in parts of the prefrontal cortex; researchers cautioned that the findings are preliminary. A 2026 study of 29 recreationally active adults found that cyclists lasted nearly 20% longer in a high-intensity test while listening to music they had chosen than while riding in silence. The music did not make the effort feel or measure as metabolically easier, suggesting it may help people tolerate strenuous exercise for longer.
Key Points
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Cyclist Tom Portsmouth broke his hip in a May 2023 crash during the under-23 Paris-Roubaix. After returning to cycling, he said the pressure of long races brought physical pain, fatigue, and anxiety about crashing again; he also faced difficulty securing long-term sponsors.
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In the cycling music study, participants averaged 35.6 minutes to exhaustion with their own music, compared with 29.8 minutes in silence—about six minutes longer. They selected their own tracks, most of which were 120–140 beats per minute, and the order of the two test conditions was counterbalanced.
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In the slow-running study, the reported benefits remained after participants’ heart rates returned to baseline. Greater up-and-down head movement was associated with a more positive mood afterward, but researchers described that result as exploratory rather than evidence of cause and effect.
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