Will Music Give Me Power? Effects of Listening to Music during Active and Passive Rest Intervals on Power Output during Resistance Exercise.

The study aimed to evaluate the impact of listening to preferred music during active/passive rest on power output and heart rate in barbell squats (BS) and bench presses (BP). Fifteen participants (13 males and 2 females), moderately resistance trained, were engaged in four randomized experimental sessions with varying rest intervals (active/passive) and music presence (listening or not). Each session involved three sets of three repetitions of BS and BP at a 50% one-repetition maximum. ANOVA showed a significant main effect of the set for BP relative mean and peak power output ( p < 0.001; both). The post hoc comparisons indicated a significantly higher BP relative mean and peak power output in set_2 ( p < 0.001; effect size [ES] = 0.12 and p < 0.001; ES = 0.10) and set_3 ( p < 0.001; ES = 0.11 and p = 0.001; ES = 0.16) in comparison to set_1. Moreover, a main effect of the set indicating a decrease in BS relative peak power output across sets was observed ( p = 0.024) with no significant differences between sets. A significantly higher mean heart rate during active rest in comparison to passive rest was observed ( p = 0.032; ES = 0.69). The results revealed no significant effect of listening to music on relative power output and heart rate during BS and BP.