When is a health club not healthy?

Loud music: the new smoking

If you join an exercise class at your local gym, one thing will probably strike you immediately – loud music with a thumping bass, and an even louder instructor. The strike isn’t metaphorical. Noise physically damages one of the human body’s most delicate and precious structures: the inner ear. Many people accept this as part of “the workout vibe”. But even in a health club, loud music simply isn’t healthy.

Image: Notice at the door of the spinning studio at my local gym. Warning or invitation?

Like smoking, loud music can be pleasurable, providing a neurochemical hit that boosts mood and arousal. But with the hit is silent harm;  it doesn’t hurt, early warning signs are easy to miss, and the serious consequences only appear years later.

Image: At my local gym a “Sound Bath – a restful practice featuring sound healing” – is not what you get in the spinning studio.

We controlled smoking because it harmed others

Once the health effects of smoking were understood, it wasn’t banned outright. Personal choice was separated from shared exposure. In other words, people could still smoke, just not in places where others would involuntarily be exposed.

Recreational noise occupies the same public health space today. Loud music affects everyone in the room – some who enjoy it and seek it out, but also people who prefer less exposure and others who are extremely vulnerable to the damage it can cause.

Why loud music feels good

When people listen to music they enjoy, especially when it’s rhythmic or emotionally charged, the brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to pleasure, motivation and reward. Brain-imaging studies show this response in the nucleus accumbens, part of the brain’s reward circuitry. The response is triggered in seconds. It intensifies with volume, bass, rhythm, and anticipation (the build-up before a beat drops). With repetition, the association gets stronger.

The result is a short-term boost in mood, focus, and energy. In gym settings, people learn to associate these sensations with increased performance.

The feeling is real – but does loud music translate into objectively better performance?

Loud music does little for performance

Studies measuring sound levels in spin classes show that once music is loud enough for rhythm and the feeling of energy, additional volume does not add to exercise intensity. It does increase discomfort; participants in the loudest classes were 23 times more likely to describe the music as excessive, and satisfaction peaked in lower-volume sessions.

In simple terms, louder music increases the risk of damage to hearing, without improving the workout.

What “too loud” actually means

Sound is measured in decibels (dB) on a logarithmic scale. This means a small numerical increase is a large jump in sound energy: every 3 dB increase halves the safe listening time. 85 dBA is the upper limit for safe, repeated exposure.

Average measurements in group fitness classes are typically in the 88 – 97 dB range, with even higher peaks. In industrial workplaces these levels would trigger mandatory controls, requiring monitoring and the use of hearing protection gear.

At around 97 dBA, which is common in group classes, the safe exposure duration drops to roughly 30 minutes. Most gym sessions last longer than this.

Smartphone apps such as the NIOSH Sound Level Meter (iOS), can give a reasonable indication of levels. They aren’t laboratory instruments but are accurate enough to show when a space exceeds healthy thresholds. In South Africa, public reporting on indoor recreational noise is limited, leaving awareness largely to individuals and operators.

Image: recording from a smartphone sound measurement app at my local gym, a couple of metres distant from (outside of) the door of the spinning studio. At the recorded average 103dB level, maximum recommended daily exposure time is only 7.5 minutes.

Effects of loud sound on the ear

Deep inside the head, the cochlea is a small spiral-shaped organ that converts sound vibrations into signals that the brain can understand. Inside it are microscopic hearing cells topped with fine hair-like structures called cilia. These move by incredibly small amounts to detect sound.

Image: NIH/NIDCD

Loud noise bends and stresses the cilia beyond their limits. Once they or their nerve connections are damaged, the body cannot repair or replace them. Unlike muscle or bone, hearing structures do not regenerate.

Hearing loss happens quietly, then permanently

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is often associated with factories, mines, and the military. Over the past two decades, however, “sociocusis” – hearing loss from social and recreational noise – has become just as important. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1 billion young adults are at risk of permanent hearing loss from this type of exposure.

After loud music exposure, ringing in the ears or a muffled sensation is often noticeable. About one in four group fitness participants experience these symptoms after a session. Audiologists call this a temporary threshold shift (TSS). Hearing sensitivity drops for a while and usually recovers over hours or days.

Recovery creates a false sense of safety because repeated exposure gradually converts temporary changes into permanent hearing loss. Hearing thresholds rise, speech becomes harder to follow and background noise harder to filter out.

Image: Audiogram demonstrating hearing loss at the 4000 Hz frequency, typical for noise-induced hearing loss. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594247/figure/article-149246.image.f2

Why hearing matters

Hearing connects us to other people, keeps us safe, and keeps the brain engaged.

It supports safety by alerting us to vehicles, alarms, warnings, and environmental threats. It supports human relationships via conversational tone, timing, emotion and accurate word detection. When hearing fades, people miss vital pieces of interaction often without realising it. Many withdraw socially over time.

Hearing also plays a role in brain health. When auditory input drops, the brain works harder just to understand speech, leaving fewer resources for memory and thinking. Untreated hearing loss is associated with faster cognitive decline and a higher risk of dementia.

Hearing is also about quality of life: enjoying music, laughter, jokes, birds, wind, everyday sounds. Hearing loss affects these and many other aspects of daily life, and often happens before it’s fully appreciated.

Noise is a stressor

Loud noise activates the body’s stress systems. Cortisol and adrenaline levels rise. Blood vessels constrict. The nervous system stays on alert even after the sound stops.

Exercise already stimulates the cardiovascular and hormonal systems. Adding noise to exercise may leave people feeling overstimulated rather than restored.

Sport, communication, and acoustic overload

In sports such as padel or pickleball, loud background music creates additional risks. These games rely on communication, spatial awareness and auditory cues from ball impact and rebounds. Hard surfaces and glass walls increase sound reverberation. Music raises background noise and masks speech. Players then have to shout to compensate – this is called the Lombard effect. In these circumstances, reaction times slow, frustration rises, and the risk of injury increases.

Image: Nano Banana

Quiet spaces support choice and health

A simple alternative is to make quietness the default. Silence or low ambient sound allows people to focus, communicate and recover. Those who enjoy music can bring their own headphones and choose what works for them.

Quiet spaces reduce hearing risk, improve safety and communication, lower stress, and help people feel calmer and more intentional.

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Responsibility and regulation

In a health club, people reasonably assume that the environment is safe. Loud music transfers the burden to individuals to complain, leave, or wear ear protection, steps that few people take.

Laws and regulations protect people more effectively than warning signs. South African law already treats excessive noise as a public-health issue. Municipal by-laws such as Cape Town’s Streets, Public Places and Prevention of Noise Nuisances By-Law allow for fines and even imprisonment in serious cases. Workplace noise regulations set exposure limits around 85 dBA and place a duty on employers to assess and control risk.

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When health clubs choose health

Loud piped music exposes everyone in the room to a serious biological hazard that accumulates over time, typically without adequate warning or an easy opt-out. This should no longer be accepted.

With smoking, the solution was not to ban the activity but to prevent forced exposure. Sound should get the same treatment. People who want loud music can choose it through their personal devices or controlled settings. Shared exercise spaces should default to quieter conditions that protect hearing and communication, without the need for complaints, earplugs, or confrontation.

A healthier sound environment doesn’t decrease the energy of an exercise class. It does improve safety and makes exercise spaces more inclusive.

A healthy sound environment should have the same priority as clean air or water, and physical safety. Its health effects persist long after the music has stopped.