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These Eminem Songs Can Make You Better At Sport, Says Science

If you’re about to go on an 8 Mile run, new research suggests that listening to certain Eminem songs can boost your athletic performance by up to 10 per cent, possibly turning that 8 Mile run into an 8.8 Mile run.

Researchers at the UK’s Hartpury University Centre have found Eminem tracks like Lose Yourself, Not Afraid and Without Me can increase a person’s power and endurance in intense exercise, because their tempo, rhythm and confrontational lyrics have a “highly motivational edge”.

Arriving at a list of the top 10 songs for optimum athletic performance (below), the research team also found that tracks by Swedish House Mafia, The Script and The Prodigy helped out during exercise, while more downtempo numbers by Bob Marley, Massive Attack and Aerosmith were counter-intuitive to staying active.

Tunes by Bob Marley and other reggae artists, for example, were actually found to make sport require extra effort, even when played loudly.

The team behind the study figured out which songs were having positive and negative effects on athletic ability by spending three months monitoring the physiological effects of music on British swimmer Ben Hooper, before he heads off on a huge 3,200 kilometre Atlantic swim this December.

The songs which they’ve deemed to be the most and least useful during sport come from an original playlist of almost 100 artists, and lead researcher Richard Collins says tracks with an “emotional resonance” in their lyrics were more powerful than those with a quick tempo or rhythm.

Catch the 10 best and 10 worst songs for optimum athletic performance, below, and avoid Bob Marley at all costs during your next workout.

Watch: Eminem – Lose Yourself

Top 10 Songs For Optimum Athletic Performance, According To Science

1. Lose Yourself – Eminem

2. Not Afraid – Eminem

3. Don’t You Worry Child – Swedish House Mafia

4. Hall of Fame – The Script

5. Remember the Name – Fort Minor

6. Stay – Sash

7. We Come 1 – Faithless

8. The Day Is My Enemy – The Prodigy

9. Without Me – Eminem

10. Back in the U.K. – Scooter

Top 10 Songs To Avoid For Optimum Athletic Performance, According To Science

1. Three Little Birds – Bob Marley

2. World Looking In – Morcheeba

3. Tear Drop – Massive Attack

4. Don’t Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin

5. Kelly Watch The Stars – Air

6. One Love/People Get Ready – Bob Marley

7. Fleetwood Mac – Passenger

8. No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley

9. You Can Get It If You Really Want – Jimmy Cliff

10. I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing – Aerosmith

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