A free Spotify playlist for fitness competition organizers

When it comes to music and fitness, Scientific American found that music distracts people

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When it comes to music and fitness, Scientific American found that music distracts people from pain and fatigue. Music can increase endurance and reduce perceived effort; in fact, people run farther, bike longer and swim faster than usual—often without realizing it. 

Not only does music help athletes, but it also helps the crowd and overall atmosphere of fitness and sporting events. It can help elevate the mood, boost energy, and get the crowd going. Music also has a way bringing people together – just like the sport we love.

So what songs should you play? While everyone has their own taste in music, we generally recommend the following:

  • Stick to energetic, feel-good music.
  • You don’t need to stick to one genre – mix it up so everyone can hear a song that resonates with them.
  • Mix in some well-known sports anthems to get the crowd going (stomp-stomp-clap from “We Will Rock You” by Queen, anyone?)
  • Ask your athletes what their favorite training song is and include it in your playlist.
  • Make sure you have enough music for the whole day.
  • Use our pre-made, ready-to-play Competition Playlist on Spotify. It contains over 7 hours of music, including some of the greatest hits when it comes to sporting events.

One of the world’s leading experts on the psychology of exercise music, Costas Karageorghis, Brunel University in London, wrote that one could think of music as “a type of legal performance-enhancing drug.” Now that’s the kind of performance-enhancement we can get behind.

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