Running on the beat: when your stride meets the rhythm

Running with music playing in the background is one thing. Running with your steps in time with the beat is something else entirely: right foot, left foot, one on each beat. Researchers call this synchronous music, and it’s the core idea behind OmniBeat.

Two more minutes

In 2013, Dutch researchers (Bood and colleagues) had physical education students run on a treadmill to exhaustion on three different days: with no sound, with a metronome matched to each person’s stride rate, and with motivational music at that same tempo.

With the beat in their ears, they ran about 2 minutes longer before stopping: from 10 and a half minutes to more than 12. A gain of almost 20%. Their stride was also more consistent, and with music the effort felt lighter early in the run.

And it wasn’t a one-off

• Young men ran faster 400-meter sprints with synchronous music than without music (Simpson and Karageorghis, 2006).
• A brisk treadmill walk lasted longer with synchronous music, and people felt better during the effort (Karageorghis and colleagues, 2009).

Study after study, the message is the same: having a beat to follow helps you hold your pace and go further.

Your body falls into rhythm

A 2015 Belgian study (Van Dyck and colleagues) found something curious. They played music for runners without asking them to do anything. When the music sped up or slowed down slightly, their stride followed, without them noticing. The body has a natural tendency to line up with the beat.

For bigger changes in pace, it really helps to have a clear beat that lands on your foot. Researchers who built a player that adapts the music to your stride (Moens and colleagues, 2014) found that when the beat lines up with your foot, synchronization comes much more easily. And once you find the rhythm, keeping it is easy.

How OmniBeat uses this

• A strong, clear beat. The songs are made for training, with a crisp, punchy kick drum.
• Every beat mapped by hand. Each song’s beat map is checked one beat at a time, so the rhythm never slips.
• Help finding the beat. Claps on the foot you choose, steps lighting up on the screen, vibration in your pocket. All in time with the music.
• Gradual changes. When the workout changes pace, the music shifts little by little, so your body can follow without missing a step.

You don’t have to think about the rhythm. Just follow the beat, and let the music do its part.

So why not a metronome?

In the 2013 study, the metronome and music gave similar results in running time. The difference was everything else: with music, the effort felt lighter and the experience was much better. Nobody wants to run listening to a tick-tock. With OmniBeat, you get the precision of a metronome and the energy of music.