Hasta La Gadget!

If you are a gym go-er like me then you will easily relate to what I am about to say: some days are tougher than others to motivate. Other days you feel like you could keep going for hours on the elliptical or treadmill or what not. So many variables enter into our workout motivation. We have definitely become a society of earbuds while exercising. Face the facts, the right music at the right time helps. There’s nothing like reaching the end of your run, digging deep for your kick when that upbeat, motivational song comes on. Tunes truly carry us through some workouts.

Researchers at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville are about to present a new technology that could make music selection during workout obsolete. Shahriar Nirjon heads the team which created MusicalHeart, bio-feedback system made for smartphones. A special set of earbuds with a microphone imbedded in the earpieces pics up the throb of the arteries in your ear. The data is then paired with information from the accelerometer, built into an app, to determine your next song. This means when your heart rate is too low for your preset workout goals a more ‘heart pumping’ song will queue up. Or perhaps you have overdone it. Then you can look forward to a more mellow tune. The objective is to keep you within your desired BPM. Medical uses may possibly exist for anxiety disorders too. Read the full paper on MusicalHeart here. Though still just a concept it seems logical. Who knows, maybe someday soon our tunes will help us reach the exercise finish line.

Thanks: New Scientist
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