Using Music-Based Cadence Entrainment to Manipulate Walking Intensity.

Background: While previous studies indicate an auditory metronome can entrain cadence (in steps per minute), music may also evoke prescribed cadences and metabolic intensities.

Purpose: To determine how modulating the tempo of a single commercial song influences adults' ability to entrain foot strikes while walking and how this entrainment affects metabolic intensity.

Methods: Twenty healthy adults (10 men and 10 women; mean [SD]: age 23.

Changes to gait speed and the walk ratio with rhythmic auditory cuing.

Background: Step length and cadence (i.e., step frequency or steps/minute) maintain an invariant proportion across a range of walking speeds, known as the walk ratio (WR = step length/cadence).