Air-stepping can be used as a model for investigating rhythmogenesis and its interaction with sensory input. Here we show that it is possible to entrain involuntary rhythmic movement patterns in healthy humans by using different kinds of stimulation techniques. The subjects lay on their sides with one or both legs suspended, allowing low-friction horizontal rotation of the limb joints. To evoke involuntary stepping of the suspended leg, we used continuous muscle vibration, electrical stimulation of the superficial peroneal or sural nerves, Jendrassik maneuver or we exploited the post-contraction state of neuronal networks (Kohnstamm phenomenon). The common feature across all stimulations was that they were tonic. Air-stepping could be elicited by most techniques in about 50% of subjects and involved prominent movements at the hip and the knee joint (~40-70°). However, the ankle joint was not involved, typically. Minimal loading forces (4-25 N) applied constantly to the sole (using a long elastic cord) induced noticeable (~5-20°) ankle joint angle movements. Aftereffect of a voluntary long-lasting (30 s) contraction in the leg muscles featured alternating rhythmic leg movements that lasted for about 20-40 s, corresponding roughly to a typical duration of the post-contraction activity in static conditions. The Jendrassik maneuver per se did not evoke air-stepping. Nevertheless, it significantly prolonged rhythmic leg movements initiated manually by an experimenter or by a short (5 s) period of muscle vibration. Air-stepping of one leg could be evoked in both forward and backward directions with frequent spontaneous transitions, while involuntary alternating two-legged movements were more stable (no transitions). The hypothetical role of tonic influences, contact forces and bilateral coordination in rhythmogenesis is discussed. The results overall demonstrated that nonspecific tonic drive may cause air-stepping and the characteristics and stability of the evoked pattern depended on the sensory input.