These Songs Could Help You Lose Weight, Study Says
Author Anne Erickson, photo by Caley Vanular
Spring is here, and pretty soon, it will be bikini season. It’s time to get in shape, and as it turns out, music might help you be able to do it. I’m a fan of working out to heavy metal music, but to each their own. As it turns out, there are are a handful of songs that, reportedly, could help you shed pounds. It sounds too good to be true, but the research is there that these songs could help you lose weight.
The Study on Songs That Could Help You Lose Weight
A recent study has put together a playlist of 10 songs that could assist you in losing weight by 30%. The website Guitarguitar.co.uk looked at the top 500 biggest hits on Spotify and created a special playlist that “accelerates weight loss” by having your heart rate stay within distance of around 148 BPM, which is the heart rate to optimize fat burning while working out, reports OneMedical.
“For the intense bouts of HIIT, you should shoot for your heart rate to elevate to anywhere between about 148 bpm (about 80% of the max) to 175 bpm (about 95% of the max),” OneMedical writes. Also, PubMed reports that HIIT can burn 25–30% more calories than the other forms of exercise. So, the study suggests that to lose weight, you should listen to these songs while doing HIIT exercise and also try to match your heart rate to the BPM of the tunes.
It’s worth noting that no matter what music you listen to while working out, it will help you. According to research published in the Journal of “Exercise Physiology Online” (via Leaf.nutrisystem.com), “demonstrates that people exercising with fast tempo music had a higher heart rate and increased respiratory rate—all of which adds up to more calories burned.” They also note that that according to new research from “Psychology of Sport and Exercise,” listening to music makes working out more enjoyable. The study “found that listening to music led to a 28 percent increase in enjoyment (compared to no auditory). This is important as music could inspire you to work out longer, leading to even more calories burned.” So, in a sense, music can help you lose weight.
You actually don’t need a study to know that music can make a workout more fun and less painful. My go-to workout playlist includes everything from Mastodon to Metallica to Pantera. Listening to great music absolutely makes the time go by faster. The workouts where I don’t listen to music, I also feel like my routine is more lethargic. So, I’m a believer in music helping to keep one’s workout routine in line. Will music actually help you lose tons of weight? If you workout, then maybe yes. But, if you’re sitting there and listening to these songs while eating potato chips, not so much.
Check out to 10 songs with the highest BPM from the playlist below. Find the full playlist of songs that could help you lose weight, according to Guitarguitar.co.uk, here.
1. Light Switch (Charlie Puth) – 184 BPM
2. Can’t Tame Her (Zara Larsson) – 182 BPM
3. TQG (KAROL G) – 180 BPM
4. Pound Town 2 (Sexyy Red, feat. Nicki Minaj & Tay Keith) – 178 BPM
5. Curtains (Ed Sheeran) – 176 BPM
6. Overpass Graffiti (Ed Sheeran) – 176 BPM
7. Price Tag (Jessie J) – 175 BPM
8. As It Was (Harry Styles) – 174 BPM
9 Speed Drive, From Barbie The Album (Charli XCX) – 174 BPM
10. Unstoppable (Sia) – 174 BPM
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