Do you play music in the background when you work out? Studies show that music can reduce the perception of how hard exercise feels. In addition, some studies even show that it can improve exercise performance. At any rate, music makes an exercise session more enjoyable. Once you feel the surge of energy that background music gives you, it’s hard to work out in silence! Don’t turn off the music, but there are reasons you to turn down the volume. Loud exercise music, over time, can damage your hearing. In fact, many aerobic instructors over the age of 40 suffer some hearing loss because of frequent exposure to loud tunes.
Some health clubs have almost a party-like environment with loud music and the clatter of weights and feet hitting the ground. One of the worst offenders in terms of loud music is spin classes. If you’ve ever attended a spin class at a gym, you may have noticed the music blared so loud that your ears rang afterward.
Those high-energy tunes may keep your motivation up but aren’t so healthy for the tiny hair cells that line the cochlea, a fluid-filled structure, in your inner ear. In response to sound, the fluid in the cochlea moves and tickles the tiny hair cells. This movement is a mechanism by which the inner ear converts sound waves into messages that your brain can interpret. However, loud noise can injure these small hair cells. Once damaged, they can’t be repaired. This damage causes most noise-related hearing loss. Plus, you can’t feel the effects of loud music damaging your ears, and you might not realize you have hearing loss until years down the line when you get a routine hearing test.
How Loud is Too Loud?
How damaging sound is to your ears depends on the volume of the sound or music and how long you expose your ears to it. For example, 85 decibels, a unit of sound, is safe for around 45 minutes, but noise at 100 decibels is unsafe after only 14 minutes. Some exercise studios exceed these safe thresholds. For example, the noise in an exercise class might be as high as 100 decibels but you’re in the class for 45 minutes or longer, long enough to damage the ear.
In fact, hearing damage makes a compelling argument for working out at home where you control the volume. Although gyms have guidelines concerning how loud exercise music can be, studies that measure the intensity of music in exercise classes show the levels exceed the safety standards and are higher for classes featuring high-intensity exercise.
Spin classes are notorious for blasting up the volume. A study published in the journal Laryngoscope monitored noise levels in randomly sampled spin classes. It found that some had noise levels that exceeded what NIOSH considers safe for only 15 minutes of exposure, although the average spin class was 45 minutes in length. Another study that looked at noise levels in health clubs found that 8 out of 10 had noise levels that exceeded safe levels for the designated time people were there. Plus, noise levels seem to be rising in health clubs and gyms because of the popularity of high-intensity exercises classes. Going to such classes several times per week could, over time, contribute to premature hearing loss.
Unlike how our bodies adapt to exercise and become stronger and more resilient, your ears don’t become more resistant to loud music and sounds. Instead, the damage is cumulative. Plus, if you also work in a loud environment, use power tools, ride a motorcycle, or go to concerts, you’re building up hearing-related damage from other sources too.
How to Protect Your Hearing When You Exercise with Music
You can’t undo the sound exposure you’ve had in the past, but you can reduce your exposure to loud noise and music going forward. One way to save your hearing is to work out at home. You control the volume of the music in your own house, but you have less say about the volume in an exercise studio. If you exercise in a group setting where you can’t control the volume, invest in a pair of earplugs to reduce the sound volume that reaches your ears. If you exercise at home, stay as far away from the speakers as possible. You’ll still be able to hear the music, but it will be less intense. If your ears ring after a workout, the volume is too high. The music shouldn’t be so loud that someone who walks into the room must shout to get your attention. If it feels uncomfortable, it’s too loud.
Other Ways to Lower Your Risk of Hearing Loss
Avoid spending time around loud noises in your everyday life. Going to sporting events, concerts, loud bars and parties, and music venues can harm your hearing and increase your risk of hearing loss. If possible, limit your exposure or wear earplugs. Also, wear earplugs when you use power equipment, even when you run the vacuum cleaner for extra protection.
Eat a healthy diet too. A study that followed over 70,000 women for over 2 decades found that those who ate a diet patterned after the Mediterranean style of eating, lots of vegetables, fruit, nuts, legumes, whole grains, seeds, and fish and moderate amounts of poultry were less likely to develop hearing loss. In fact, women who ate diets rich in these foods had a 30% lower risk of hearing loss. Other foods to limit are sugar and processed foods. Make sure you’re eating magnesium-rich foods too. There’s some evidence that a diet higher in magnesium helps protect against hearing loss. So, help yourself to an extra serving of green, leafy vegetables, seeds, and whole grains!
The Bottom Line
Invest in your future hearing! Music is motivating but music at a high volume is deafening. Enjoy the extra motivation it gives you, but don’t harm your hearing.
References:
- Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2010 Aug;20(4):662-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2009.00948.x. Epub 2009 Sep 28.
- com. “Spinning Class Is Causing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss And Tinnitus”
- 2017 Aug;127(8):1873-1877. doi: 10.1002/lary.26331. Epub 2016 Oct 12.
- org. “Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and Leisure Activity”
- Hearing Health Foundation. “How Nutrition Affects Our Hearing”
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Exercise and Music: How the Right Tunes Can Improve Your Performance
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Can Music Make High-Intensity Interval Training More Effective?
