# Impact of Music Selection on Motivation and Performance during Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing
## 4 Discussion  
The study examined the effect of synchronized music as a motivational tool on the results of a CPET in female participants. The assumption was that motivational music would affect changes in cardiopulmonary variables, as well as perceived exertion during maximal exercise testing. In this study, the BMRI-2 scale (Table 1) was used for the first time to determine the motivational characteristics of music in Serbia. Consistent with previous research [30], the scale showed excellent internal consistency (Table 2), making BMRI-2 a valid and consistent tool for selecting music to accompany exercise or training and allowing researchers to standardize music in experimental protocols involving exercise-related tasks [24]. It was also confirmed that music with a tempo > 120 bpm has a pronounced motivational quality, as evidenced by the mean motivation score of all songs on the playlists of all participants (MS = 39 \(\pm\) 2), which belongs to the category of highly motivational music, according to [PERSON] [28]. These finding is in line with research on the motivational qualities of music for submaximal aerobic exercise in different groups of participants [27] and the claim that motivational music has a fast tempo and strong rhythm to generate energy and induce physical action [31]. Testing the influence of music on cardiopulmonary parameters showed a significant impact on VO\({}_{2}\)-related parameters, as expected. Specifically, testing with music compared to testing without music resulted in significantly higher values of peak VO\({}_{2}\), predicted peak VO\({}_{2}\), VO\({}_{2}\) at VT2, peak HR, predicted peak HR, and test duration (Figure 1). Our results are consistent with a study conducted by [PERSON] et al. [39], which tested the effect of selected music at two levels of exertion in medical school students, showing a significant increase in VO\({}_{2}\)max but also a decrease in blood pressure at 90% of VO\({}_{2}\)max (\(p\) < 0.05). Additionally, research on the psychophysical and ergogenic effects of synchronous music during treadmill walking has shown that peak HR remains approximately the same in testing under all three conditions (without music, with neutral, and with motivational music) until very close to physical exhaustion [40]. On the other hand, in a study conducted by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [41], investigating the effects of different types of music on HR, RPE, and time to exhaustion during treadmill work in three different treatments, the results showed that peak HR and HR in the minute preceding the maximum were higher in testing with soft, slow, and popular music (approximately 100 bpm) than in conditions without music. In a study examining the effects of using motivational music with a video recording on participants, the results showed a significant increase in HR and accumulated lactate during the motivational intervention compared to non-motivational and control conditions [42] as well as an increase in ergogenic effects when using motivational music compared to neutral and control conditions [40]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline  & **RPE Start w—** & **RPE at VT2 wm—** & **Peak RPE wm—** \\  & **RPE Start m** & **RPE at VT2 m** & **Peak RPE m** \\ \hline Z & \(-\)2.310 & \(-\)3.660 & \(-\)1.664 \\ \hline \(p\) & 0.021 & \(<\)0.001 & 0.096 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Legend: Variables: RPE start wm—perceived exertion at the beginning of the test without music; RPE start m—perceived exertion at the VTZ in the test without music; RPE at VT2 m—perceived exertion at the VTZ in the test with music; Peak RPE wm—perceived exertion at the end of the test with music; Peak RPE ——perceived exertion at the end of the test with music.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: Comparison of perceived exertion results at three time points during testing. The comparison between the two groups of participants within the third hypothesis showed that there are significant differences in only two variables (Figure 2).