A Study On Traditional Indian Instruments And Their Effects On Heart Rate And Perceived Exertion During Exercise

Abstract

This paper aims to understand how traditional Indian musical instruments impact physiological parameters such as HR, HRV, perceived exertion rate, and cardiovascular response during exercise. A randomised controlled design involving 80 healthy participants (40 males and 40 females) was used to compare exercise performance under two conditions: with and without Indian instrumental music (sitar, tabla, flute). During the trials, the participants performed moderate exercise while the biochemical measures, comprising systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiratory rate on were assessed. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing involves the determination of perceived exertion using the Borg RPE scale. Outcomes showed that music group players demonstrated decreased systolic blood pressure, and perceived exertion of effort compared to the control group. It is worth mentioning that, when implementing gender-specific comparisons, patients reported a more significant decrease in systolic blood pressure among females exposed to music than among males. The findings of the study are positive and in favour of the hypothesis that listening to traditional Indian music decreases cardiovascular stress and further improves exercise by decreasing perceived exertion. However, the study has its limitations due to the limited number of subjects used in the study and the fact that treatment was done in a laboratory setting, therefore, the findings cannot be generalised to the entire population. Future research should further investigate the consequences of listening to diverse music genres on long-term exercise compliance, cardiovascular risk profiles, and subjective well-being, especially in individuals with special health needs.