#CurrysMonsterMashUp

I was recently invited to a sports psychology, nutrition, and personal training workshop in conjunction with Currys. Unfortunately I was unable to attend which was very disappointing as I actually hold a diploma in Sport Psychology and a talk was being given by Dr Costas Karageorghis, who is Head of Music in Sport Research Group at Brunel University, discussing the impact music has on running.

I have always loved running and have previously run a half marathon – listening to music the whole time. I really think that this makes a difference and I have a running playlist when I am out pounding the pavements, always with one earphone out so I am aware of my surroundings. In a few months time I will be running the Race for life and I am also going to be entering the London Marathon Ballot so this workshop couldn’t have come at a better time.

I was intrigued to learn that according to Dr Katageorghis music increases exercise endurance by up to 15%, you can read the Brunel Research here.

I was particularly interested to hear that music with a faster tempo does not necessarily make you work harder and faster. The optimal tempo is actually 140-145 bpm and anything faster than this won’t make you work harder as our bodies are unable to process fast, complex music when they are already trying to process fatigue signals. Dr Karageorghis has even put together a playlist of motivational tracks which you can check out here.

Following his presentation, Lauren Karl, a personal trainer from KB Personal Training, gave a quick warm down followed by an overview of sports nutrition.

Monster Productions gave a demonstration of their new iSport Super Slim Wireless Bluetooth Headphone which I am also disappointed I missed as this is a product that sounds right up my street.

The headphones boast a 15m range and deliver up to five hours of playback so I would have like to have been able to try them. Maybe they are something I should consider if I am lucky enough to run the marathon. If you own a pair I would love to know what you think of them!

It looks like the bloggers had a great afternoon, if you would like to know what they thought of the event you can follow the #CurrysMonsterMashUp on Twitter.