A music-based feedback technique that rewards weightlifters for using the correct technique is just as effective as a personal trainer, a new study has found.
Deadlift is an exercise often used to improve strength of the muscle that surrounds the knee, but if performed incorrectly there is a high risk of an injury.
In particular, there are two main technique-related aspects that lifters can get wrong: incorrect spine alignment, and the position and movement of the barbell, both of which can place too much stress on the lower back.
Participants in the study, ranging in age from 20 to 42, were split into two groups, and then asked to perform 10 deadlift repetitions.
Participants from both groups group wore a total of 22 sensors over their bodies, which monitored the bend in their spine and the distance between the barbell and their feet sensors.
One group received verbal feedback from an instructor while the other group listened to music from a "sonic-instructor system" designed by researchers at Ghent University in Belgium.
The sonic-instructor system uses music quality as reward, so if they performed the movement correctly, they would receive an improved quality of the sound and vice versa.
The researchers found that both feedback types resulted in similar levels of improvement, and participants reported similar levels of clarity and enjoyment for both.
These findings suggest that music-based biofeedback could be a useful tool for weight training, especially in situations where instructor access is lacking.
"The system is based on sonification, that is, on the translation of movement parameters to the sound quality of a musical track," the researchers wrote.
"This translation has an appeal to the human reward system such that music-based reinforcement learning becomes possible.
"The current findings suggest that such systems are a valuable addition to current training methods and more motivational versions could be developed to be used also in the fields of rehabilitation and medical treatments."
The findings were presented in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
