Music and video are widely used in pre-performance routines as motivational tools. Our study seeks to investigate if priming with a motivational video in comparison to priming with music will result in a greater anaerobic performance. Discussion: Neither of the motivational primes had a significantly greater anaerobic capacity, anaerobic power or a lower fatigue index. Music significantly increased perceived motivation, arousal and valence, but video only significantly increased motivation and valence. Video and music did not have a significant difference compared to each other for increasing perceived motivation, arousal and valence. Conclusion: Video and music used as a pre-performance motivational prime have no significant difference on maximal anaerobic performance and perceived motivation.