Music for Exercise - Headband

Dear Exercise Enthusiast,

Congratulations on your purchase! You are now the proud owner of this headband - filled with music written and packaged to be listened to while exercising - developed by the Scandinavian music and performance ensemble Sekten. You can plug your favorite pair of headphones or earbuds right into the headband, put it on, and listen to the music while you sweat, or plug the unit into a large sound system via mini-jack cable if you want to share it while you work out as a group.

This is Sekten’s take on how workout music could (and should) be, and the music on this headband unit has been created specifically for the purpose of being listened to while exercising. The idea came from a need to reexamine our relationship with workout music, and frustration with the status-quo. For the members of Sekten - and for lots of people around the world who get up out of bed or off the couch to push themselves physically every day - the music we are commonly steered toward as “workout music” does not motivate, inspire, or energize as intended, but instead, triggers stubbornness, resistance, and the occasional temper tantrum. In recognizing the importance and joy in moving one’s body, Sekten dove into research on how music and exercise can actually work together, reading studies on the subject, trying several interval-based methods and training structures on their own bodies, and then putting their findings to good use, by creating the product that you now have before you. There are variations in mood, tempo and output throughout the music – just as a good workout session should be diverse, so should the musical motivator. There are no specific instructions for how to exercise to this music… the members of Sekten exercise their bodies in a variety of different ways, from weightlifting to Pilates and mountain climbing. Just choose your methods of listening and moving, hit PLAY, and enjoy.Sekten was formed in 2003, and since then has released two CDs (Annars är det Tyst, 2005, and Mäktiga Vingar, 2008) and a DVD (Klubbhus, 2012), the latter exploring their “table music” concept: improvised performances around a dining room table. They have dedicated themselves to redefining traditional relationships between performers and audience members at their live concerts, and while the music is always created using Swedish lyrics and improvised songs/forms, Sekten is known for handing out bells to the audience to use instead of clapping, wearing costumes and disguises, using car headlights as stage lighting, and improvising ballet dance solos. In 2005, they received a Danish Music Award for their first release, Annars är det Tyst.