How Music can Affect your Behavior When it Comes to Exercising

Music is a powerful tool that can influence an individual’s behavior. It can be a catalyst that sets behavior in motion, reinforces patterns of behavior, or even acts as a form of communication. Music is universal and a part of our everyday human experience.

Behavior analysis is the scientific study of the factors that explain why we do what we do. While behavior analysis is best known for improving the lives of autistic people and their families, there are lots of other applications. Behavior analysts work in many areas including human resources and workplace safety, gerontology, corrections, and fitness.

Creative outlets like music can also be used to help people in performing routine tasks or activities in their everyday lives. One of these is exercising.

Christine Barthold, Academic Program Coordinator and Associate Professor of Behavior Analysis within the Special Education Program at George Mason University’s School of Education, recently shared her thoughts on how music can affect an individual’s behavior when it comes to engaging in fitness activities. Joining in this discussion was David Chávez, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Shenandoah University. Dr. Chávez earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Composition from George Mason. They discussed why it’s important to look at behavior from an interdisciplinary perspective and how collaborations strengthen research results.

Music can transform an individual’s exercise behavior.

While a lot of people know that exercising improves overall health and well-being, it may still be difficult for them to be consistent. The good news is that listening to music can help get people moving. Body movements and heart rate tend to sync to musical rhythms, and most people say they prefer exercising with music rather than without it. For some, music makes exercise less of a chore and decreases their perception of effort. Basically, music can make exercise more enjoyable overall, leading to increased physical activity.

How do people choose the music they listen to during exercise?

Research shows that when a person listens to music while exercising, their endurance increases, and they can exercise for longer periods of time. Current research on how we choose what music to listen to while exercising, though, is limited. Dr. Chávez and Dr. Barthold are currently working on a project designed to help us better understand the effects of our music preferences on exercise behavior.

We sometimes think of volume, tempo, and beat as straightforward and universal. But when it comes to our responses to music, everyone is unique. Things like what types of music we grew up listening to, our personal preferences, and even our anatomy and physiology all affect how we perceive music. Two people can hear the same piece of music and have completely different reactions to it. Behavior analysts have experience with testing and measuring individualized reactions to the environment, while music researchers have experience understanding all the variables that should be tested and measured. Working together can help identify and fill gaps in knowledge that wouldn’t be seen otherwise.

A new program in Behavior Analysis launches Spring 2026

Exciting changes are coming to the Behavior Analysis program, as we are launching the new M.Ed. in Special Education with a Concentration in Behavior Analysis in Spring 2026. To find out more about the Special Education Behavior Analysis Program at George Mason University, please visit the program website.