Poster Rance Costa
Rance Costa
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Baroque: Best bet for a buff bod?

You're on the way to the gym or about to step on the home treadmill and you are mulling over a good workout playlist. Bring along some Baroque music. Yes, Baroque music.

Realizing the full benefits of a good cardio workout can be a daunting task, especially if you are just starting out. "Get your heart rate up for a sustained period of time" is the mantra regarding how to burn calories—and in that regard, your soundtrack matters. The heart, the most vital organ in exercising, may actually adjust itself to mimic the tempo of the music the brain is hearing.

A recent study set out the measure the impact of Baroque music and heavy metal on heart rate. A Brazilian study published by the NIH looked at 21 women and the effect of heart rate when listening to those two types of music. When going from heavy metal to Baroque, some subjects showed the heart rate going from a faster pace to a more moderated pace. That certainly suggests that Bach might be appropriate for your cool-down, but there's a rich variety of Baroque music that can help get your heart rate where it needs to be throughout your workout.

A lot of Baroque music centers on dance. Of course, different pieces are played at different speeds by different ensembles, but you'll find plenty of examples of fleet, light performances to get your motor running. (Look for movements marked "Allegro," "Vivace," or "Presto.") Here are two popular examples of high-energy Baroque music:

Just as important as a higher heart rate is during a workout, bringing the heart rate back to a normal 70-100 beats per minute (bpm) is important in the cool-down period. You can switch your playlist for a few minutes to more moderately-paced pieces—and there are lots of them. The majority of the Baroque music catalogue fits right in the middle of that resting heart rate of 70-100 bpm. (Think "Andante" or "Largo.")

Here are just two examples:

The music of composers like Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, and Telemann can help lift your heart—in more than one sense.

Shawn Trapp is a writer based in New York. He blogs at Mad About Classical.

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