Listening to content while exercising

[themethod]

I'm a big fan of listening to both lessons and target language content (podcasts, audiobooks, audio from TV shows, etc.) during exercise.

Focus is always an issue, but there are some ways to work with it:

- You don't have to actively learn the whole time -- for instance, I usually go to the gym for 1.5 hours, but I will only do about 30 minutes of "active" lessons (Pimsleur, FSI, etc.) that require more focus.

I also do them at the beginning of my workout, when I'm more fresh and I'm doing my warmups + heavier sets with long rests. During runs, I'll typically listen for 10 or 20 minutes while I stretch, warmup, and go through the easier part of the run.

Then, I'll either switch to some more passive audio or let my focus drift.

- You can pause/rewind -- when I actually do my heavy sets that require focus and effort, I simply pause the audio. Sometimes I'll even switch to music in another app if I want some extra motivation. Then I just go back to the lesson while I rest.

If I realize I zoned out during a run and missed a chunk of audio, I simply rewind a bit.

- You can "remove" distractions -- for runs, this could be running earlier/later when there are less people or traffic, running in an area with less traffic (park, beach, etc.), or running a familiar or easy route. For me, it's also a lot easier to focus if I'm on my stationary bike, though I prefer to do my main cardio outdoors.

- You don't need to be 100% focused -- I went through Language Transfer's Spanish course a couple lessons at a time, entirely when jogging, and definitely didn't "learn" everything. But it still gave me a decent overview of different concepts, which I could then revisit through other materials.

You can also simply re-listen to something multiple times. Either way, I don't think you need to absorb 100% of every lesson for it to have value, especially with stuff like Pimsleur, FSI, etc., where concepts will build on each other and be revisited in later lessons.

As discussed in the recent passive listening thread, I also find it beneficial to passively re-listen to the same audio over and over. For example, I have like 10 seasons of ripped TV show audio on my phone in Russian and Spanish.

Personally, I haven't consistently listened to music during workouts for years. I find it both a waste of time and "cheating", in different respects. Andrew Huberman has even talked about how you essentially train your brain chemistry to need the stimulation of music by listening to it every time you work out.

To that point, the last thing I'd add is that focus is something you can develop. In that way, rather than saying "oh, I can't focus, I give up", I think there's a benefit in trying to force yourself to focus anyway, even if it's just for a few minutes at a time.

[garyb]

I do it, but I very much consider it background listening rather than "active" listening, so it's a good time for things like podcast episodes that I've already listened to at least once. Music is a good idea too. I like the general idea of active, focused listening for new material and background listening for familiar material.

[Le Baron]

So I have a couple of crank theories about language learning. One of my favorites is "Comprehension is an earworm plus an epiphany."

I wouldn't call this a crank theory, it's actually very sensible.

[Cainntear]

When I walk around or do gardening I don't listen to anything, but I can't see it would be more taxing than listening to music. The condition is that the activity can be done more or less automatically, and one risk could be that you listen so intently to the content that you get run down by a lorry.

Call me pedantic, but listening to music isn't the same thing as listening to songs. When you're listening to music, that's not really engaging the language parts of the brain (or at least not all of them). Listening to songs is an edge case, because you can listen to songs without paying attention to the language, or you can listen intently to the words. If you let a spoken podcast fade into the background, that's probably not being listened to as "music" though...

[rdearman]

When I walk around or do gardening I don't listen to anything, but I can't see it would be more taxing than listening to music. The condition is that the activity can be done more or less automatically, and one risk could be that you listen so intently to the content that you get run down by a lorry.

Call me pedantic, but listening to music isn't the same thing as listening to songs. When you're listening to music, that's not really engaging the language parts of the brain (or at least not all of them). Listening to songs is an edge case, because you can listen to songs without paying attention to the language, or you can listen intently to the words. If you let a spoken podcast fade into the background, that's probably not being listened to as "music" though...

You're pedantic.

[Cainntear]

When I walk around or do gardening I don't listen to anything, but I can't see it would be more taxing than listening to music. The condition is that the activity can be done more or less automatically, and one risk could be that you listen so intently to the content that you get run down by a lorry.

Call me pedantic, but listening to music isn't the same thing as listening to songs. When you're listening to music, that's not really engaging the language parts of the brain (or at least not all of them). Listening to songs is an edge case, because you can listen to songs without paying attention to the language, or you can listen intently to the words. If you let a spoken podcast fade into the background, that's probably not being listened to as "music" though...

You're pedantic.

Call me pedantic, but I think I told Iversen to do that....

[Khayyam]

Weight training: varies. I tend to rest 2-3 minutes between sets and you might think that's a perfect time to listen to something, but lifting puts me in an impatient, sometimes aggressive mood that's not perfectly compatible with listening to spoken content. I can listen to spoken stuff between sets if I try, but it feels increasingly forced and I usually end up switching to music that fits my current mood.

Back when my German was less advanced--so, before I could understand almost anything on the first try--it would sometimes happen that I'd be lifting while listening to a German song that I didn't entirely understand, and as I approached failure, a window seemed to open and I'd suddenly understand a phrase or a line for the first time. This happened often enough that it stopped being surprising. I don't think it was a coincidence that I was always listening to music to suit the mood.

Hiking: this isn't a hard and fast rule, but I generally say uphill for music, downhill for spoken. Unless I'm hiking all day--then I'll put on a book and listen to it the whole time. Hiking itself is a near-perfect activity when it comes to getting into a groove and setting my mind free to listen (which is always the essential point), but the presence of other people (to say nothing of mountain bikes) can be a problem. If I see someone coming 50 yards off, even that can be a distraction, long before I actually encounter them, because I'm mentally preparing for the encounter rather than focusing 100% on what I'm listening to. It's even worse when I'm headed in the same direction as the other person because there's no way to completely get them off my radar except to hike so fast that I leave them way behind, which I sometimes do. However, having to do that is annoying, and of course I can't concentrate on anything very well while I'm hiking so fast. But hiking itself, yeah, it's golden.

Juggling (if that counts as exercise): works very well for me as long as I stick to tricks that I know so well I don't have to think about them. It's not as compatible with listening as hiking at its best, but at least it's always available.

Walking: the very best thing for listening with full concentration--even better than sitting or lying still in a silent room and closing my eyes--provided there are no distractions. This generally means walking late at night. I find that a good strategy is to deliberately walk so far that I'm already tired of the walk before I head back, so that there's nothing to reduce the tedium but to give my full attention to whatever I'm listening to.

These crazy-long night walks are obviously in a different category than other forms of exercise, since I'm exercising for the sake of learning a language rather trying to squeeze in some language time while exercising for the benefits of exercise.

[Eternal Foreigner]

Hiking: this isn't a hard and fast rule, but I generally say uphill for music, downhill for spoken. Unless I'm hiking all day--then I'll put on a book and listen to it the whole time. Hiking itself is a near-perfect activity when it comes to getting into a groove and setting my mind free to listen (which is always the essential point), but the presence of other people (to say nothing of mountain bikes) can be a problem. If I see someone coming 50 yards off, even that can be a distraction, long before I actually encounter them, because I'm mentally preparing for the encounter rather than focusing 100% on what I'm listening to. It's even worse when I'm headed in the same direction as the other person because there's no way to completely get them off my radar except to hike so fast that I leave them way behind, which I sometimes do. However, having to do that is annoying, and of course I can't concentrate on anything very well while I'm hiking so fast. But hiking itself, yeah, it's golden.

My experience hiking while listening to content has also been great! The hills in my local nature area aren't so steep so I typically don't worry about whether I'm ascending or descending, instead I start off by listening to something in TL for 30-45 minutes, then I listen to something short in English to give myself a little break. I repeat this maybe three times, or until I find my mental focus is weaker, and then I go home.
I have the same experience being distracted by upcoming encounters, but thankfully when I go (typically on weekdays) there aren't many people out there. When I do see someone I'll just pause what I'm listening to until after we say good morning and pass each other.
It's a good feeling walking down some of the same forest paths where I remember listening to very basic French lessons a year ago, it makes me wonder if a year from now I'll be listening to native podcasts and audiobooks on these same forest paths where I began the journey.

[bombobuffoon]

I do listen to content while walking. Sometimes the mind wanders so I classify it as light engagement.

I don't believe that on its own it would be much use but its a good complementary activity. But its a good to have some easier exercises to do. I don't want every activity I do to be intense.

Intensity is important for me but I only can manage it for 25% of the times. Other 50% is moderate and 25% light. If I'm having a bad day or two I'll just switch to something easy as well and this is an option.

[mattmo]

I think personally this works quite well. Listening to your favorite target language music or podcast is a great way to multi-task whilst exercising.