How to improve your workout

Exercisers can improve their performance by as much as 15 percent if they listen to music while working out.
In one study, treadmill walkers moving in time with music felt 15 percent more energetic—and less eager to get off the machine—than treadmill walkers who were not listening to music. According to the sports psychologists who produced this stat, "Music listening can be an effective dissociation strategy, reducing perceptions of effort and fatigue by up to 12 percent." Dancing makes moving in time with music into more of a party and less of a chore. "In some ways, dancing is the best exercise—it's really aerobic," Ratey says.
Costas Karageorghis et al., "The BASES Expert Statement on the Use of Music in Exercise." British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences.

Source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/19/exercise-tips-15-unusual-ways-to-improve-your-workout.html