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I read (mirror 1, mirror 2) that South Korean authorites have introduced some rules to enforce slower (in terms of BPM) music in gyms to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections:

Music with more than 120 beats per minute (bpm) is forbidden during group exercises such as aerobics and spinning. Health officials said the measure was intended to prevent people breathing too fast or splashing sweat on others, and to avoid having to close businesses, as has happened during previous waves of infection.

Does this rule have some scientific grounding?

Franck Dernoncourt
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    Boy band banned! – Andrew Grimm Jul 13 '21 at 10:44
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    From my perspective, the question in the title does not match the quote. The question should really be "Does playing slower music in gyms 'prevent people breathing too fast or splashing sweat on others'?" – Barry Harrison Jul 13 '21 at 17:08
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    @BarryHarrison "Health officials said the measure was intended to [...] avoid having to close businesses, as has happened during previous waves of infection" -> clearly about reducing the risk of COVID-19 infections. – Franck Dernoncourt Jul 13 '21 at 17:11
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    @FranckDernoncourt Thanks for your reply. I still think you are making an assumption not in the source. Did they close businesses because they were afraid there was a chance of infection? Or did they do that because they actually saw infections from loud music? – Barry Harrison Jul 13 '21 at 17:18
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    I agree, it seems like no part of that article is actually claiming that "playing slower music in gyms reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections". The article just claims that 1) music with more than 120 bpm is forbidden during group exercises and that 2) health officials said the measure was intended to prevent people breathing too fast or splashing sweat on others, and then has various various quotes from people saying that the ban is ridiculous/ineffective. Is there any article that links the actual order, or quotes the health officials, or do they all just say it *won't* reduce infections? – Giter Jul 13 '21 at 21:22
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    @Giter the artcle title is "South Korea Covid rules enforce slower music in gym". It is a "Covid rule", which means a rule about reducing the risk of COVID-19 infections. – Franck Dernoncourt Jul 13 '21 at 22:35
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    @BarryHarrison Distilled even more it becomes "does the speed of music in a gym influence the pace people exercise at?" – Loren Pechtel Sep 25 '22 at 05:03

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