South Korea restricts music in gyms to fight Covid-19

1 min read
July 14, 2021

To fight a surge of Covid cases South Korean authorities decided to ban music with a fast tempo in gyms.

Treadmill
In South Korea, gyms don’t close but music and speed of treadmills are restricted

South Korea is experiencing a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections and has recorded its highest daily cases so far in the past few days. With 1,615 new infections on July 13 for a country of 51 million people, the situation is much different than in countries severely hit by the virus. South Korea recorded only 2,000 deaths due to Covid-19 and is perceived as a successful country in the fight against the coronavirus.

The country has been closely monitoring the places of infections, whether in a department store, a shop or a bar. And with the spike in cases, more restrictions have been put in place.

One of them, relatively uncommon, makes some Koreans skeptical. In fact, gyms will not be able to play music with a beat per minute higher than 120. It also affects group classes like aerobics or Zumba.

For instance, the song Gangnam Style, with 132 bpm, cannot be played anymore.

The authorities want to prevent Koreans from feeling energized by the tempo of the music, encouraging them to make more effort or run faster. They would eventually breathe more heavily, sweat more intensely and spread the virus.

Music restrictions and speed limit on treadmills

120 beats per minute is approximately twice the heartbeat of someone who doesn’t make an effort. The song “I wanna dance with somebody” by Whitney Houston is 119 bpm. “Call me maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen is also around the same tempo.

A 2007 study on the effects of music tempo and loudness level on treadmill exercise concluded that “fast, loud music might be played to enhance optimal exercising”. Another study from 2013 found that preference for fast tempo increased as the intensity of the exercise increased. In 2007, the US Track & Field, the governing body for running, had banned the use of headphones and audio players for security reasons and to avoid giving a competitive edge.

On top of music restrictions in South Korea, treadmills have a speed limit. They can only be set approximately at the pace of someone walking. Treadmills cannot be faster than 6 km/h (3.7 mph).

However, bikes in the gym were still authorized. And people listen to their own music with earphones.

Read more about South Korea

Sources:

Clément Vérité

Clément is the executive editor and founder of Newsendip. He started in the media industry as a freelance reporter at 16 for a local French newspaper after school and has never left it. He later worked for seven years at The New York Times, notably as a data analyst. He holds a Master of Management in France and a Master of Arts in the United Kingdom in International Marketing & Communications Strategy. He has lived in France, the United Kingdom, and Italy.