How Can Binaural Beats Boost Athletic Performance?
When it comes to squeezing extra gains out of training, great athletes look beyond the usual suspects – nutrition, recovery, strength, and mobility.
One emerging tool is binaural beats an auditory illusion created by playing two slightly different frequencies in each ear, which the brain perceives as a third “beat.”
The idea is that by entraining brainwave frequencies, you can influence focus, arousal, recovery, or relaxation states in ways that support performance.
But enough theory. If you’d like to deep dive more about binaural beats then open up our Audicin science guide here. For now, here’s a practical list of the multiple ways that binaural beats can help at different stages of training and competition.
Warm-Up: Get the Nervous System & Focus Primed
A solid warm-up isn’t just about raising muscle temperature: it preps the nervous system, optimizes neuromuscular readiness, and helps athletes mentally shift into performance mode. Binaural beats can enhance this prep and here’s the proof.
A study by Wang et al. (2024: all references are listed at the end of the blog) looked at the effect of sounds during a 20-minute warm-up before a repeated-sprint ability (RSA) test.
Participants: 45 young athletes (31 female, 14 male; mean age = 20.5)
Conditions: (i) no music, (ii) fast-tempo music, (iii) fast-tempo music + binaural beats
Findings: The addition of binaural beats had a significant positive effect on heart rate during the RSA test.
What does this tell us? Binaural beats may help nudge up arousal or readiness beyond just listening to fast-tempo music. The neural entrainment can sharpen mental readiness.
Another review (Cintra, 2023) stated that binaural beats contribute positively to reaction time and psychobiological readiness in exercise contexts. Exposure time, beat frequency, and timing of intervention are key moderators.
How to apply: Try including a binaural-beat song (beta or gamma range) ~15–20 minutes before high-intensity work. Monitor whether you feel more “wired” or reactive during sprints or agility drills.
Audicin allows you to select songs by binaural beat band, making this process easy.
Audicin track to try: Clear Sky by GEA features gamma-entraining binaural beats, great for inducing a ready state without overstimulating your system before you even get to your workout! This is a favourite of mine whilst I am walking to the gym.
Intra-Set / Inter-Set Rest: Enhance Recovery Between Efforts
Rest periods during training are often underappreciated. They’re not just downtime, but critical windows for partial recovery, neurological reset, and repositioning focus.
A study in Frontiers in Psychology (2025) explored whether listening to binaural beats between sets would improve subsequent performance, readiness, or recovery.
They reported improvements in focus and recovery, with some trends indicating better power output on subsequent sets.
The idea is simple: instead of passively resting, athletes could use these few minutes to prime their nervous system and cognitive state before the next effort.
(At the time of writing, that study is hot off the press, it appears only as an accepted abstract in Frontiers in Psychology under article number 1636856.)
How to apply: Use binaural beats (alpha or low beta range) during your intra-session rest periods — e.g. between sets of squats, sprints, or plyometrics - and see if you notice crisper reactivity or steadier performance in later sets.
Audicin tracks to try:
Just Be by GEA is great for those who like a darker heavier tone of music for staying in the zone.
Ocean Mind by Eylia is a lighter alternative that uses the natural power of water sounds to keep your brain engaged and ready for the next burst of energy.
Performance Anxiety / Pre-Competition Mindset
Getting hyped is good, but the line between being optimally aroused and being anxious is thin.
Many athletes experience heightened nervousness, which can degrade sleep, focus, or fine movement control.
Binaural beats may help calm the mind pre-competition without dulling alertness.
Baseanu et al. (2024) found that binaural beats typically outperform noise or no-music controls in reducing anxiety.
Yang et al. (2025) explored binaural beat programs focusing on autonomic nervous system regulation. They found modulation of anxiety markers (lowered heart rate variability) when using appropriate beats.
A review by Cintra (2023) pointed toward enhanced relaxation and better heart rate variability post-exercise when binaural beat tracks are used.
How to apply: In the hour before competition or high-pressure training sessions, consider listening to a binaural beat track in the alpha or low theta range (e.g. 6–10 Hz) for 10–15 minutes. Use it as part of your mental warm-up/calm-down ritual (pairing with visualization, breathing, or progressive muscle relaxation).
Audicin track to try: Silent Echoes Within by Māius features strong tones and water sounds to capture gentle focus, swelling melodies to increase focus to the present moment whilst delivering alpha binaural beats to promote relaxation and regulation in the nervous system. Perfect for visualisation and deep breathing. Be in your own world and gather your strength for the perfect game face.
Sleep & Recovery: Amplify Your Gains Overnight
It’s often said that the training happens when you’re resting.
Yet whilst the prevalence of sleep problems in the general population is 36%, the figure for elite athletes is 52%.
High-quality sleep is a non-negotiable for muscle repair, hormonal balance, memory consolidation, and neuromuscular recovery. Binaural beats aimed at sleep can help athletes fall asleep faster, increase slow-wave (deep) sleep, and improve restfulness.
Cintra (2023) flagged improved sleep quality and post-sleep mental state as recurring benefits from binaural beats for athletes and sports performance.
Kweon & Shin, (2021) compared several auditory stimuli (sham, repetitive beep, binaural beat, white noise, rainy sounds) and found that binaural beats facilitated falling asleep. Sleep studies since then have replicated these positive effects on sleep quality and latency (Lee et al., 2024)
A study combining binaural beats with lavender scent (Abbasi et al. 2023) found improved sleep quality. While this used 2 modalities, it shows the combinatory potential of beat entrainment to assist with sleep alongside existing tools/ techniques. You can only add to your benefits.
Why it matters for sport: Better sleep means better recovery of the neuromuscular system, improved hormonal regulation (e.g., GH, cortisol), better consolidation of motor learning, and lower injury risk.
How to apply: Use a delta-range binaural beat track (ideally <4 Hz) in the pre-sleep period, perhaps during a wind-down routine of 10–20 minutes.
Audicin track to try: 8 Hour Recovery by GEA - the ultimate sleep track to see you through the whole night. Thanks to Audicin’s patent pending immersive sound engineering, and the unique skill of our primary audio engineer, this is about as low as you can go with invisible binaural beats !
Audicin CEO Laura Avonius swears by this song for jet lag and listens to it every night using a sleep band. Inspired by this, at the time of writing we have a partnership with Acoustic Sheep where you can purchase a sleep headband with this special sleep track preloaded, so no bluetooth connection is needed . More info here.
Focus, Reaction & Flow States
Athletes can use binaural beats to sharpen readiness, reaction time, or entry into a flow state during performance.
Cintra (2023) notes improvements in reaction time in studies when binaural beats are used in exercise settings. He also noted benefits to cognitive aspects of performance: focus, mood, attentional readiness,
An older but well referenced study, Lane et al. (1998), found that binaural beats in the beta-range increased vigilance and mood.
How to apply: Before drills that require heightened reactions, decision-making, or coordination (e.g. ball drills, agility training, sparring), try a 5–10 min track in beta (15–30 Hz) or low gamma (30–40 Hz) ranges. Use it immediately prior to the drill or even overlay it during the drill if you don’t find it distracting.
Audicin track to try: Frozen Lake by GEA is a deep and strong-toned song with pulsing beat and energising musical texture that captures focus, allowing you to stare right into the zone and engage your focus to maximum sharpness. In dark peace you will find your hidden power.
Practical Tips
Quality matters: Not all binaural beats are created equal. See my recent blog on how 70-90% of examples you find online are fake.
Poorly produced tracks can be dissonant or overly harsh, which stresses the nervous system rather than calming or priming it. Seek out audio programs like Audicin that are designed with performance or recovery in mind. Ideally those supported by scientific testing or trusted wellness platforms, like Audicin.
Any headphones will do: You don’t need specialized gear. Standard over-ear, on-ear, or in-ear headphones can all deliver the binaural illusion. The key is choosing what fits your activity: lightweight buds for warm-ups, sturdy over-ears for focused training, or comfortable sleep bands for nighttime recovery.
Use the right beat for the right moment: Think of binaural beats like nutrition: timing matters. Fast beta or gamma-range beats for sharpening focus before sprints, alpha or theta for pre-competition calm, and delta for sleep and recovery.
Keep volume healthy: Keep at a comfortable level. The goal is subtle brainwave entrainment, not drowning out your environment or fatiguing your ears.
You don’t actually need to hear a well-designed Audicin song over background noise for it to work! Just pop on your headphones and carry on, even if the environment is chaotic you can trust that the beats are doing their work for you. Never risk your hearing by blasting the volume. With hardcore training music it might be necessary to hear the music thumping dangerously in your ears, but with Audicin it is not.
Conclusion
Binaural beats are an effective, low-cost, low-risk adjunct to traditional training.
Whether used to sharpen mental readiness, facilitate better rest between sets, reduce pre-competition anxiety, or support deeper recovery sleep, they offer a potential edge especially for athletes who are already optimizing most other variables.
If you try incorporating binaural beats into your training, track your subjective readiness, performance, or recovery over weeks, and you will notice the benefits that come with consistency.
References
Wang, S.; Liu, C.; Zhang, L.; Sun, C.-K.; Yang, S.-Y. Effects of Fast-Tempo and Binaural Beat Therapy Music during Warm-Up on Repeated Sprint Ability Test Performance among Young Soccer Players. Brain Sciences. 2024, 14, 673. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14070673
Cintra, M. B. Binaural Beats and its Applications in Sports and Physical Exercise. EFDeportes (bibliographic review), 2023. (Integrative review).
Frontiers in Psychology (2025) Inter-set rest binaural beats study Article number 1636856.
Baseanu, I. C. C. et al. The Efficiency of Binaural Beats on Anxiety and Depression: A Systematic Review. Applied Sciences (MDPI) 2024, 14(13). DOI: 10.3390/app14135675
Yang, S. Y., et al (2025). Effects of binaural beat therapy with different frequencies on autonomic nervous system regulation (anxiety modulation) among college students. PMC article
Abbasi, F., et al. (2023) Effects of Binaural Beat and Lavender Scent Inhalation on Sleep Quality. https://brieflands.com/articles/jmcl-143464.pdf
Kweon, Y.-S. & Shin, G.-H (2021). Possibility of Sleep Induction using Auditory Stimulation based on Mental States. https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.06463
Lee, et al (2024) Effect of dynamic binaural beats on sleep quality: a proof-of-concept study with questionnaire and biosignals, Sleep, Volume 47, Issue 10, zsae097, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsae097
Lane, J. D., Kasian, S. J., Owens, J. E., & Marsh, G. R. Binaural Auditory Beats Affect Vigilance Performance and Mood. Physiology & Behavior 1998, 63(2), 249-252. DOI: 10.1016/S0031-9384(97)00436-8
Oster, G. Auditory Beats in the Brain. Scientific American October 1973.
