by Doug B.
Over the past several years studies have been done on plants to see how music can have an effect on plant-life.  The ultimate finding was that the harder and more complex the music was, the more growth the plants experienced.  In one series of studies, music was played daily, for three hours a day, in one lab and not at all in the other lab.  The plants where music was played three hours a day grew twice as large and healthy as those in in a music-free environment.  A study was recently undertaken on Mythbusters, a popular show on Discovery Channel.  Their findings were very interesting.  The experiment occurs on Episode 23 of the series entitled “Exploding House” – “Talking to Plants”.  Seven greenhouses were assembled:

1) Kari- Experimenter. Telling Plants Negative Speech
2) Scottie- Experimenter. Telling Plants Negative Speech
3) Kari- Experimenter. Telling Plants Positive Speech
4) Scottie- Experimenter. Telling Plants Positive Speech
5) Classical Music
6) Intense Death Metal
7) No Stereo

The results were astonishing to say the least.  The plants in the greenhouse with recordings of Death Metal grew the best of all, regardless of the fact that one of the water timers died during the experiment.
Studies in humans are less thorough but they have found that Metal and Hard Rock music can reduce depression as well as negative emotions and low self-esteem.  There is also a link in students who prefer alternative, hard rock, or heavy metal and higher IQ test scores on average.  Some studies have also found high intelligence among adolescent heavy metal listeners.
So, now your probably wondering what my point is.  Well, the point is that Hardcore Rock and Heavy Metal are both great genre’s of music to lift to.  I constantly talk with and hear about lifters who swear by the music as giving them the extra boost to achieve better max’s and repetitions, as well an increase in muscle mass.  I can also attest to the positive effects it has had on me.  I would even say that metal can be one of your best supplements in the gym.  It is great for kicking your intensity level up a notch and overall give you a more productive workout.
So remember, turn off Lady Gaga when doing your pink dumbbells and turn on the Metal.

Rock on and heavy lifting!

The Sound of Music and Plants (1971). Dorothy Retallack
MythBusters.com (17 December 2009) http://tv.msn.com/tv/episode/mythbusters/
ScienceDaily.com. (22 March 2007). “Gifted students beat the blues with heavy metal.”