Walk fast, live longer? McMaster University researchers say walking speed is an important health indicator

According to McMaster researchers on aging, walking speed could be considered a vital sign of sorts for seniors.

“Walking speed is a measurable indicator of a fundamental function,” Julie Richardson, a professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, told CBC Hamilton.

She’s one of the authors of a piece on walking speed published on the university’s Optimal Aging Portal in October. The blog post describes walking speed as an “important indicator of mobility, independence, and overall health,” and says slower speeds “have been linked to increased risk of falls, reduced physical activity, and even cognitive decline.”

Walking changes with age

Of those who can, younger people can generally walk without thinking about it, Richardson said, but that changes as we age. Then, more thinking is needed to balance and adapt to changing environments. Taking shorter steps, spending more time with both feet on the ground, and spending more time stooped over also come with age.

Since it’s easy to measure, calculating your walking speed and comparing it to the average for people your age is one way Richardson and her team say you can monitor your overall health.

To measure walking speed, Richardson recommends two methods. In the first, you walk 20 metres, taking five to warm up at the start and cool down at the end, timing the 10 m in the middle. Then, you divide 10 m by the number of seconds it took you to calculate your speed.

The other method requires walking 6 m total, with 1 m to warm up and 1 m to cool down, timing the 4 m in the middle.

Using a handout on the website, you can then see how your speed compares to the average for people in your age group. For example, the average speed for women in their 60s is 1.24 metres per second.

Richardson said the averages don’t take into account mobility devices such as walkers.

If your speed is slower than average, think about why, and consider talking to a physician or physiotherapist, she said.

Self-monitoring is important as we age, Richardson added, and if you notice any issues, “the big thing is to intervene early.”

Resources from her team, including videos featuring her colleague Dr. Anthony Levinson, include exercises to improve speed focused on strength and flexibility, overall fitness and training one’s brain.

“If you can, you should try to walk five or six times a week for at least 30 minutes,” Richardson said. “You can try to take short periods during that walk to increase your speed a little bit and then you can slow down. Practising that over time you may be able to [increase] your speed.”

Walking faster has health benefits but also practical safety benefits, such as being able to cross a street with enough time at a signalled intersection, Richardson said.

She also pointed to a 2011 University of Pittsburgh study, which found that in older adults, walking speed was a good predictor of life span.

“In our data, predicted life expectancy at the median for age and sex occurs at about 0.8 m/s; faster gait speeds predict life expectancy beyond the median,” the Pittsburgh researchers wrote.

Community walkers say they’d try measuring speed

Hamiltonians Brigitte Evering and Geoffrey Honey, both 67, told CBC Hamilton it made a lot of sense to hear walking speed be discussed as a vital sign.

The pair walk regularly and Honey is an all-weather cyclist. When they moved to Hamilton from Coburg, Ont., both joined Everybodycrew, an inclusive exercise group that meets regularly in parks.

“People take walking for granted and they shouldn’t,” Honey — a former registered massage therapist — said. “It has a profound impact.”

He and Evering said they hadn’t known about the link between lifespan and walking speed but can see themselves measuring their speeds now. They said they’d love to see average walking speeds promoted in fitness centres so people can learn more about them.

Being part of a community group is a great motivator, they said, adding that they tend to workout harder when they’ve got friends to talk to.

“Hamilton has a lot of great walking spaces,” Evering said, but it’s important for seniors to have access to indoor spaces for times when it's too cold or slippery outdoors. It’s also important that those spaces be affordable for people with low incomes, she said.

“It’s one thing to say you should be walking faster. But if it means you have to join a gym to do it, it’s not going to happen.”

Evering and Honey’s advice for seniors looking to stay active is to check out the city’s seniors centres, which offer a range of fitness and social programs.

“It’s starting anywhere,” Evering said, “Once you find it, there’s a domino effect.”

The City of Hamilton lists multiple seniors centres and clubs on its website, including:

• Ancaster Senior Achievement Centre: 622 Alberton Rd. S.

• Flamborough Seniors Centre: 163 Dundas St. E.

• Sackville Hill Seniors Recreation Centre: 780 Upper Wentworth St.

• Club 60 Seniors: 6 King St. W.

• Dundas Senior Citizen's Club: 10 Market St.

• Main Hess Activity Club: 200 Jackson St. W.

• Rosedale Seniors Club: 100 Greenhill Ave.

• Warden Seniors Club: 1655 Barton St. E.

• Winona Seniors Club: 1239 Hwy 8

• Putman Family YWCA Active Living Centre: 52 Ottawa St. N.

• YWCA Hamilton Active Living Centre: 75 MacNab St. S.