The other day I went running with a metronome app, and I just had to share my experience with you! I normally run without music because I find running to be almost like meditation. I usually run in the early mornings before most people or even the sun is up and it’s so quiet and peaceful. The only sounds besides a rooster crowing are my dog’s paws and my shoes beating on the ground.
Now, I cannot take any credit for this idea. I got it from another fitness blogger over at A Pace of Balance. She mentioned that she ran with a metronome to beat her personal best splits time, and I thought that I might be able to use it to improve my time as well. Actually, that’t not entirely true… I’m not so much trying to improve my time as I am trying to just pick up the pace a bit and not be so lazy on the portions I walk. 🙂
After downloading and trying out a couple of apps on my Android I finally settled on this simple metronome app for my phone. Once I had the app, I had to figure out just what tempo to set it too, so I did a Google search and found a great article from Life Hacker for finding the right beats per minute (BPM) to run to and I settled on 153 BMP… because I like to jog not run… plus, it’s more for the walking portion of my workout than for the running part. 🙂
Results of running with a metronome app
So, how do I know that the metronome app helped? I ran two identical runs on two different days, and the numbers for my second run were definitely improved with the metronome app as measured by my Polar heart rate monitor. Take a look:
 
Not only did I increase my exertion level, but I also increased actual steps during my workout. My Spark Activity Tracker counted 4,024 steps on 3/24 and then 4,304 for 3/26. (Yes, I know I have a lot of tech on during my workouts.. My hubby likes to giggle at all my workout tech)
Here’s what I think happened. I am currently making my way through the Couch to 5k program and so do a combination of walking and running. I noticed that during the walking intervals I tend to slow down a lot. I’m pretty sure that the metronome helped me to keep my pace up during the walking intervals which helped me keep my heart rate up, and increase my number of steps.
So, if you find that you tend to slow down on your walks, or even your runs, you might want to try using a metronome to help you pick up the pace. It doesn’t need to be very loud, and you don’t even need to consciously match your steps to the beat. Just simply having in beating softly in your ear will do the trick… you body will automatically keep pace for you.
What tricks do you use to increase the intensity of your workouts?
“Metrónomo” by Paco © Attribution-ShareAlike License
Pamela Bruesehoff
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Interesting idea. I struggle to keep track of how fast I’m going. Sometimes I go way slower than I am capable of, sometimes I run too fast. I’ll be giving this a try.