Science for practice

Functional Music in Weightlifters' Training

Yu. G. Kodzhaspirov, Cand. Sc. (Pedagogy), Docent; Yu. M. Zaitsev; S. M. Kosarev, Moscow Aviation Institute

English summary of Tyazhelaya Atletika. Ezhegodnik 1986 (Moscow: Fizkultura i Sport, 1986), pp. 26–28: the text is paraphrased, not translated; data tables are given in full with English labels.

Training qualified lifters means heavy loads, and their effect depends largely on the athlete's emotional state: work that brings positive emotions goes well, tires less and gives clearly better results. In 1983–1985 the authors studied whether functional music, used to stimulate training emotionally, could optimise the training of lifters. The pedagogical experiment involved 65 lifters aged 17 to 28, of all qualifications up to Master of Sport.

Music matched to the aims and character of a session stimulates work capacity and raises training effectiveness, most of all with the athletes' favourite pieces. It should not play throughout a session: it soon becomes a habitual stimulus and loses effect, and it can hinder when attention must be concentrated, as in talks and the coach's explanations. It should be used episodically, and sessions with music alternated with ordinary ones so that interest does not fade. Of the three kinds of session (instructional, instructional-training and training), music suits the last two, where fatigue builds faster and stimulation is needed more.

The method of episodic stimulation we developed uses music in all three parts of a session. In the preparatory part it comes on 5–6 min after the start, when the introductory talk ends and the special warm-up begins, and lasts to the end of the warm-up, usually 15–20 min. Work capacity is low at the start, so the aim is to lift mood and set the rhythm of training, with lively pieces of clear rhythm at moderato,¹ allegro,² vivace³ or presto⁴ tempo. Marches accompany walking and exercises done while walking (drill, general developmental and special preparatory, with or without weights); faster tempos suit jumps, running, tempo acrobatic and special exercises and exercises for speed and agility; moderato suits strength and flexibility exercises.

In the main part, to avoid saturation, music is used in one of every 3–5, or even 7, sessions, usually the hardest and most tiring, best in the second half, when fatigue is evident, for 10–12 min. The exercises should be simple or well learned, or a distracted lifter may err and be injured. Music works best in endurance work at 80–85% of maximum: repeated bench presses, squats and bends with the barbell on the shoulders, clean pulls with a squat, and snatch and clean pulls.

In the closing part the music should calm the body and relieve fatigue and nervous tension. It should be calm, melodic and soft, blending with relaxation and breathing exercises. It begins 5–7 min before the end of the lesson and finishes 5 min after it, in andante,⁵ adagio,⁶ lento⁷ or largo⁸ tempo. Gradually slowing tempo involuntarily slows movements and deepens muscle relaxation and the calming of heart and breathing. Recordings of natural sounds are also very effective after relaxation exercises: surf, rustling leaves and grain, birdsong, a brook. The athletes sit or lie comfortably, eyes closed, relaxed, imagining themselves resting in a corner of nature. Such sounds reflexly induce brief inhibition in all the fatigued links of the central nervous system, making rest more effective and speeding recovery.

¹ Moderate, energetic. ² Fast. ³ Lively, fast. ⁴ Very fast. ⁵ Moderately slow, a calm walking pace. ⁶ Slow, slower than andante. ⁷ Slower than adagio. ⁸ Slowest, for stately, solemn or mournful music.

The 65 lifters trained by this method for from half a year to three years, and music was found to affect various aspects of their mental state and performance. In a questionnaire on their own experience all said they liked training to music; 96.9% wrote that it reduced mental tension and 96.9% that it eased coordination; 92.3% said it made tasks easier and 92.3% that it sped mastery of the programme; 93.8% more often wanted to repeat an exercise; and 95.4% looked forward to sessions with music more eagerly than to ordinary ones. The table adds to this.

Table. Ratings by 65 lifters of the effect of functional music on mental state and training results

As printed; the value 9855 for satisfaction with training is evidently a misprint for 98.5.

The great majority thus reported a positive effect on attitude, quality, volume and intensity of work, well-being at both ends of a session and satisfaction; only a few saw no influence. The coaches confirmed this and added that music improved training results, which proves the method worth introducing.