If you visit any gym, weight room or running track, you are sure to see the same critical training device being worn by athletes of all ages - a pair of headphones connected to their portable music. Without it, workouts seem out of sync, longer and more difficult.

Researchers have told us for years that there is a motivational link between exercise and music, but an interesting new study has now discovered that the connection goes even deeper, especially when an athlete can create his or her own beat.

Just listening to music isn’t enough to launch our training workout into high gear; it has to be the right music at the right beat. For runners, cognitive research has shown that choosing music with a beats per minute cadence that matches our stride gives our steps a rhythm to follow. Training becomes more efficient with the perception that the effort required is less. But what effect does music have on strength building sessions or skill building drills? Would athletes perform better if the music was created by their movements rather than just accompany them?

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany, along with other institutions, took a different track to studying the link by letting the workout dictate the music.

They started by attaching customized music-making kits to three types of exercise equipment, a stair-stepper and two weight-lifting machines. The music kit would produce electronic, dance-type tones and beats synched to the movements of the machine. So, the athlete would control the beat, pattern and volume of the music simply by the rhythms of her workout routine. Lift faster, the music intensifies. Step slower, and the music matches the effort.

Next, 63 men and women volunteers were divided into three groups. One group created their own beat with the customized machines. Another group worked out in the same room while listening to music produced by the first group. The third group exercised with the same machines but with the music turned off.