CADENCE OF OLDER WOMEN WALKING AT SELF-SELECTED AND MUSIC-GUIDED PACE David Rowe, Leslie Peacock, Rona Sutherland, Allan Hewitt Physical Activity for Health Research Group University of Strathclyde

INTRODUCTION – “Healthy” walking Guidelines for health-enhancing physical activity: 150 minutes moderate intensity, or 75 minutes vigorous intensity, or combination Walking intensity rarely monitored or regulated in older adults’ walking interventions Focus on volume (total, or additional steps)

INTRODUCTION – walking intensity Moderate intensity walking pace: ≈ 2.6 mph; 4.2 km/hr ACSM, 2009 (GETP) ≈ 100 steps/min (young to middle-aged) Tudor-Locke & Rowe, 2012 (Sports Medicine) Dependent on height/stride length Rowe et al., 2011 (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise) Also dependent on age Fitzsimons et al., 2005 (J Aging Phys Activity)

INTRODUCTION – Typical walking speed Murtagh et al. (2002) 3.5 (±0.8) mph Taylor et al. (2008) All > 3.0 mph Parise et al. (2002) 3.0 mph (range 2.2-4.3 mph) Habitual walkers, short distance, young to middle age (except Parise et al.)

PURPOSE In older women: Determine self-selected walking cadence (steps/min) and intensity (METs) Investigate their ability to match walking cadence to music tempo (beats/min)

METHODS Active older women (N=30; age=71±7 yr; height=1.58±0.08 m; weight=63.64±11.54 kg; BMI=25.52±4.31 kg/m2) 3 x 4-min treadmill walking trials at self-selected slow, moderate and fast speeds Cadence and energy expenditure measured 3 overground trials of at least 5 min completed using music tempo matched to the three treadmill cadences, played through a portable music player Data were analyzed using one-sample t-tests, Cohen’s d, and Bland-Altman plots

RESULTS – treadmill speed, energy expenditure and cadence Self-Selected Speed Slow Medium Fast Speed (mph) 2.55 (±0.55) 2.84‡ (±0.47) 3.17‡ (±0.48) EE (METs) 3.52* (±0.88) 3.99* (±1.05) 4.58* (±1.02) Cadence (Steps/min) 112† (±12) 118† (±11) 124† ‡ p < .05 higher than 2.6 mph * p < .05 higher than 3 METs † p < .05 higher than 100 steps/min Cohen’s d = 0.5 to 2.0 (medium to very large) for significant differences

RESULTS – overground tempo-cadence discrepancy Cohen’s d = 0.1 (trivial) for all

CONCLUSIONS Active older women’s self-selected slow, moderate and fast walking pace are at above-moderate intensity At music tempi between 86 and 158 beats/min, older women are able to match walking cadence to music tempo Older women are able to maintain above-moderate intensity walking for a series of short continuous bouts accumulating to approximately 30 min Music has promise for regulating walking pace in older women

Thank you! david.rowe@strath.ac.uk