Effects of familiar and unfamiliar asynchronous music on treadmill walking endurance

To assess effects of familiarity of music on treadmill endurance, 15 female undergraduates in sports science performed an incremental treadmill walking task on three separate occasions while listening to Familiar Music, Unfamiliar Music, and White Noise. A repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that participants walked for significantly longer when accompanied by Familiar and Unfamiliar Music in comparison to White Noise (p < .01). Although participants rated Familiar Music as significantly more motivating than Unfamiliar music (p < .05), no significant differences were found between the two music conditions for treadmill endurance. Heart rates did not appear to be influenced by music during treadmill walking or on completion of the task.