Do you walk fast or slow? This detail can reveal... your brain age

Science never ceases to amaze us. It turns out that the speed at which we walk says a lot about the state of our brain and body.

Regardless of whether you walk fast or slow, you probably didn't suspect that it could say a lot about your health.

Walking speed can predict the risk of hospitalization , heart attack , and even death . Furthermore, the walking speed test can be used to assess functional fitness and frailty .

When natural walking pace deteriorates, it is often associated with underlying deterioration in health, says Dr. Christina Dieli-Conwright of Harvard Medical School .

Illustrative photo / photo: Unsplash, Chris Hardy

She says it could be a sign of a chronic condition that has caused the person to become inactive and more sedentary. This in turn leads to a loss of muscle strength and joint mobility , which unfortunately fuels further declines in health.

Research shows that walking speed is a significant predictor of lifespan. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh analyzed nine studies involving more than 34,000 people over the age of 65. They found that men who walked the slowest at age 75 had a 19 percent chance of living another 10 years, while those who walked the fastest had an 87 percent chance.

But that's not all! In 2019, Line Rasmussen from Duke University and her team studied 904 people aged 45. They found that those who walked slower had smaller brains and performed worse on cognitive tests .

- Walking seems trivial - most of us do it automatically. But it's a complex process involving many systems - muscles and bones carry us, eyes show us the way, heart and lungs supply oxygen, and brain and nerves coordinate everything, says Rasmussen .

Illustrative photo / photo: Unsplash, Timon Studler

Experts recommend performing a simple test of your walking speed , for which all you need is a stopwatch and a measuring tape .

You can do it outside (10-meter version) or at home (5-meter version). In the first case, first do a 5-meter run-up , then walk 10 meters at a natural pace . In the second variant, you can use a run-up meter and 4 measuring meters . Then divide the distance by the time and you have your result in meters per second.

Average results by age:

• 40–49 years: women 1.39 m/s, men 1.43 m/s
• 60–69 years: women 1.24 m/s, men 1.43 m/s
• 80–89 years: women 0.94 m/s, men 0.97 m/s

You can also use applications such as Walkmeter , MapMyWalk , Strava or Google Fit to measure your distance.

If it doesn't go well... nothing lost. The pace of our walking can be improved. Even short walks help to break up the time of sitting and improve health. Specialists recommend regularly increasing the length and intensity of walking every 3-4 weeks and taking advantage of every opportunity to move.