No other song fuses music with athleticism like Vangelis's “Chariots of Fire”.

A story of two athletes coming from diverse backgrounds (Christian and Jew) and life missions (show the glory of God and combat prejudice) who competed during the 1924 Olympics in Paris.

The iconic theme music composed by Vangelis to portray this epic story has become synonymous with triumph in sports.

There’s something in music that fuels our passion for sports and inspires us to reach new heights. Whether you are a fan, amateur player, or professional athlete, music is an inevitable part of this area of life.

But what makes this relationship so unique?

Symphonies of Triumph at the Olympics

Music has been part of the Olympic Games for decades.

This link established the role of music in sports with composers such as Richard Strauss (Olympic Hymn for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin), John Williams (The Olympic Fanfare and Theme for the 1984 Olympic Games in LA), and the abovementioned Vangelis.

But not just during the opening ceremony.

It’s also part of the very core of sports.

Rhythmic gymnastics and figure skating wouldn’t be possible without these marvelous choreographies accompanied by music. Let’s not forget the performances of the following athletes:

• Evgenia Kanaeva’s Hoop Performance at London 2012 with a medley of Russian classical music

• Yuzuru Hanyu’s Free Skating Routine at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics with a medley of Japanese music.

• Anna Bessonova’s Ball Routine at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the Ukrainian folk song Hopak.

The Sonic battle cry

The presence of music at massive sports events feels like bread and butter, essential and inseparable. Songs inspire athletes before and during their performances.

Not only do we have the national anthem of the U.S. regularly appearing at the beginning of every baseball, basketball, and NLF football event, but we also have the sports team anthems sung regularly.

For instance, the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” was originally written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers for their musical Carousel back in 1945, but later the Liverpool Football Club turned it into their club’s anthem which fans passionately sing during every match.

How are songs, chanted by thousands, not a powerful fuel to the player’s performance?

Unleashing the magic of music

There are 3 stages when music is used as a tool to enhance a specific outcome in an athlete.

• Pre-task music: before athletes start their training sessions or competition, music is used to either enhance or decrease arousal. You can use uplifting music to fuel people’s motivation to win or use soothing music to tame their anxiety.

One of the most successful British track and field athletes, Dame Kelly Holmes, used Alicia Keys’ song “If I Ain’t Got You” to visualize her gold medal during the 2004 Olympic Games in Women’s 800 and 1500 meters.

• In-task music: during the athlete's training, music is used synchronously or asynchronously. Athletes either sync their movement patterns with the music’s pace or use background music asynchronously as a distraction or stimulation.

The goal is to regulate the movement with an external cue such as music and decrease the athlete’s perception of effort so they can endure training for longer.

• Post-task music: after the exercise or game athletes use music to recover from the game’s toll on their minds and bodies.

Usually, athletes listen to slow-paced and calm music to help their muscles relax and return to balance.

How does the strategic use of music transform training?

In pre-task, music is more useful for short and highly energetic tasks like sprinting or heavy-weight lifting than for longer-duration tasks.

You’ll get faster sprint times, higher grip strength, and higher arousal when listening to fast and loud music.

During exercise (a.k.a. in-task), syncing with the music will increase athletes' endurance, delay their fatigue, and improve performance mainly in longer-duration tasks such as running or indoor cycling. Interestingly, women show better outcomes than men with sync music.

With async music, where the movement is not consciously synchronized with the music’s rhythm, people enhance their mood and decrease their perception of effort during the workout.

After finishing your workout (a.k.a. post-task), fast music has been shown to induce a more pleasant feeling and create a more positive memory of the workout for next time. Slow music can help decrease our level of arousal and help remove lactate more efficiently.

How does music specifically help athletes?

Music has three main ways to influence our training and sports games.

First, it affects our emotions. Athletes gain a specific level of arousal with music and can trigger specific emotions with the strategic use of music.

Music can go from awakening a certain response (e.g. flight or fight), syncing our biological functions (e.g. heart rate) to a certain music pace, evoking a memory (e.g. last big tournament win), to creating a new link with a situation that wasn’t there before (e.g. triggering a sense of being mentally ready when “x” song plays).

Secondly, the music shifts our perception. It turns our mind from what’s happening inside (e.g. pain, fatigue) towards the music.

It’s as if music was limiting the internet bandwidth of our nervous system sending signals of ache and discomfort to our brain.

Now if the intensity is too much, music won’t be able to suppress it but it will at least downgrade it and don’t make it as big of a deal as it actually is. Like a mild suppression of soreness.

Listening to music makes us focus on the music instead of how hard we’re exercising which makes the exercise feel easier and more enjoyable.

Final thoughts

Music holds immense potential as a tool to be used before, during, or after sports activities.

One of the key roles of music is its ability to regulate emotions, boost confidence, and optimize focus among athletes. During workouts, music can also enable athletes to dissociate from fatigue-related symptoms or unproductive thoughts and feelings, especially in instances of disappointing results or performance.

Thus, athletes and coaches should have access to a variety of playlists. Even in situations where music is not allowed, athletes can employ auditory imagery to mentally hear or sing a piece, utilizing its rhythm as a pacing aid or drawing inspiration from catchy lyrics as personal mantras.

Thoughtful selection of music for different phases of sports, whether it be before, during, or after, is a worthwhile endeavor. Athletes will inevitably go through a process of trial and error to discover which musical choices work best for them and when.

As we keep exploring the impact of music on performance and well-being, we’ll open doors to further innovation in sports psychology and training techniques.

As the renowned basketball coach Phil Jackson once said,

Let’s unlock the symphony within ourselves and reach new heights in our sport.