While moving through each phase of your workout, you might find your motivation levels slowly flagging. Eventually, your pace may not even drive your heart rate up into the target range, which nets you the desired benefits of weight loss or stamina gains. Thankfully, you can push your body back into overdrive by moving to the beat of your favorite music. According to a recent study, your body naturally matches the tempo of the music to keep your heart rate in the right range. To fully enjoy these benefits, you will need to invest in headphones with the perfect combination of features.

Bluetooth Capabilities

Extra cords running from your headphones to phone or MP3 player can impede your movements while using exercise equipment or just running along the block. Furthermore, there is nothing quite as aggravating as inadvertently pulling your headphones out of your ears by the cord. You can eliminate both of those issues by picking up wireless headphones that sync to your device using Bluetooth. Once you set up the wireless capabilities, you should not need to troubleshoot the connection again unless you switch to a different output device.

Heart Rate Monitor

Calculating calories burned is only really effective when using your heart rate during each workout. You can obtain headphones that regularly record your heart rate at specific points in your routine. The earphones use the pulse in your ears or neck to pick up the heart rate reading without further input from you. Furthermore, the headphones may even send your reading to an app that keeps track of your exercise effort. Review your readings after every workout to make sure you stay in the target range without going above or below too often.

Noise Canceling Tech

To really focus on the beat of the music, and maintain your current exertion level, you must eliminate all outside noises from your hearing range. By picking up earphones that use noise-canceling technology, you can ensure your tunes are the only noises heard throughout your workout. To stay safe, it is best to only use this type of earphone while working out at home or in a secure gym. While running or biking outdoors, it is safest to use a single earphone or a set that allows you to pick up honking horns or nearby footsteps.

Finding The Perfect Setup

All of these technologies come equipped on several different headphone designs, including:

• Ear buds
• Over the head
• Behind the head

Consider your personal comfort preferences when choosing between these headphone designs. If you are prone to tension headaches, it may be wise to skip over the head earphones in favor of behind the head or ear bud designs. Furthermore, the way the inside of your ears are shaped may affect the fit of ear buds designed to sit in the canal. You may be able to negate an improper fit by picking ear buds with a loop that goes over the top of your ear.