Team:University of Dayton Engineering Wellness & Safety Lab Reporting In!

We all know that exercise can help reduce fall risk. But could listening to piano music while you work out improve your sense of balance? A recent study suggests that it can!

Researchers in Switzerland recruited 134 adults over 65 who were at high risk of falling. For six months, half took a weekly hour-long class that focused on balance. They worked out while listening to piano music, changing movements in response to rhythm changes. The other half of the participants continued their regular activities for the six-month test. Then the two groups switched.

Those who worked out to the music improved their gait and had longer and more stable strides. Overall, the music-exercising adults experienced half as many falls as the control group. When the control group started working out with the music, they gained the same balance benefits.

-Erin Sutton