The speed a person normally walks could offer a simple clue about their overall health and longevity, new research suggests.
A study published in JAMA Network Open followed 4,067 adults in the U.K., who were about 69 years old on average, to see whether their usual walking pace was linked to their risk of death over time.
Participants completed a short walking test at their normal pace and also wore a wrist activity tracker for nine days to capture their walking speed during everyday life.
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Over nearly 12 years of follow-up, faster walking in both settings was linked to a lower risk of death, even after researchers accounted for other health and lifestyle factors. A total of 739 participants died during that period.
Beth Templin, a board-certified geriatric clinical specialist and CEO of HouseFit Physical Therapy & Fitness in St. Louis, said walking speed can offer a broader look at how well the body is functioning.
“In physical therapy, we call walking speed the ‘sixth vital sign’ because it’s a snapshot of how well many body systems are working together,” Templin, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
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Changes in walking speed can therefore offer clues about a person’s health, according to the doctor.
“To walk briskly, you need strong legs, a healthy heart and lungs, good balance, and a brain and nervous system that can coordinate it all,” she said.
“When walking speed starts to slip, it’s often an early warning sign that one of those systems is declining, sometimes before anything shows up on a lab test,” Templin added.
For older adults who want to improve their walking speed and overall fitness, simply taking more steps may not be enough.
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“Build the engine, not just the habit,” Templin advised. “Most people try to walk more, but speed comes from strength and balance.”
The doctor suggested strengthening the legs with simple exercises, such as standing up from a chair without using the hands and doing heel raises while holding onto a counter.
She also recommended adding short bursts of faster walking. After warming up, a person could walk briskly for one minute, slow down for two minutes and then repeat, gradually increasing the faster periods.
The findings do not mean that simply walking faster will make someone live longer, experts noted.
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“This study shows an association, not proof that walking faster by itself adds years,” Templin reiterated.
The participants included in the study were generally healthier than the larger group, the researchers noted. There is also no single standard method for measuring everyday walking pace with wrist activity trackers.
More research is needed to determine whether the findings apply to other groups.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.