Contents
- 1 What Your Walking Speed Says About Your Brain
- 2 Why Walking Speed Matters
- 3 How to Test Your Walking Speed
- 4 Average Walking Speeds by Age
- 5 Walking Speed and Life Expectancy
- 6 Brain and Body Ageing: The Hidden Connection
- 7 Can You Improve Your Walking Speed?
- 8 Final Thoughts: Walk Your Way to Better Health
What Your Walking Speed Says About Your Brain
Did you know your walking speed could reveal how fast your brain is ageing? It may sound odd, but science says the way you walk – especially how fast – can give clues about your brain and body’s health. Researchers have found that slower walkers tend to have smaller brains and show signs of faster ageing.
Let’s explore how this everyday activity gives insights into your long-term health and how you can use it to your advantage.
Why Walking Speed Matters
When you walk, your brain, muscles, joints, heart, and lungs all work together. It’s a full-body activity that reflects the overall condition of your health. According to experts, walking speed is more than just movement – it’s a sign of your functional capacity.
In simple terms, your walking pace can help:
- Predict hospitalisations
- Gauge risk of heart attacks
- Measure frailty or physical decline
- Detect cognitive ageing
Christina Dieli-Conwright, a professor of medicine at Harvard, explains, “When a person slows down significantly, it could mean there’s a chronic issue behind it – possibly muscle weakness or reduced mobility from being less active.”
How to Test Your Walking Speed
You don’t need fancy tools – just a stopwatch and a tape measure.
Option 1: 10-Metre Test (Best for Outdoors)
- Mark out 5 metres to get up to speed, followed by 10 metres for timing.
- Walk at your normal pace over the 10-metre stretch.
- Divide 10 by the number of seconds you took to find your walking speed in metres per second.
Option 2: 4-Metre Test (Great for Indoors)
- Mark 1 metre to accelerate, followed by 4 metres for timing.
- Walk as usual.
- Divide 4 by the time (in seconds) it took you to get your speed.
You can also use fitness apps like Google Fit, Walkmeter, MapMyWalk, or Strava, which track your speed using GPS.
Average Walking Speeds by Age
Wondering how you compare? Here’s the average gait speed for men and women across age groups:
| Age Group | Women (m/s) | Men (m/s) |
|---|---|---|
| 40–49 | 1.39 | 1.43 |
| 50–59 | 1.31 | 1.43 |
| 60–69 | 1.24 | 1.43 |
| 70–79 | 1.13 | 1.26 |
| 80–89 | 0.94 | 0.97 |
Even small changes in walking speed can offer important clues about your health.
Walking Speed and Life Expectancy
Walking speed doesn’t just indicate brain health – it can also predict how long you might live. A study involving 34,000 older adults found that faster walkers had a better chance of surviving over the next 10 years than slower walkers.
Another French study in 2009 discovered that even healthy older adults with slower walking speeds were three times more likely to die of heart disease compared to those who walked faster.
Brain and Body Ageing: The Hidden Connection
Line Rasmussen from Duke University found that walking speed even at age 45 can signal brain and body ageing. Her research studied people from New Zealand who were tracked from birth. The slower walkers at 45 had:
- Smaller brains
- Thinner neocortex (the thinking part of the brain)
- Poorer memory, reasoning, and IQ scores
- More white matter, a sign of cognitive decline
- Weaker muscles and lower grip strength
- Faces that appeared older
What’s more, Rasmussen found these patterns were linked to childhood brain function, suggesting walking speed reflects lifelong brain health – not just ageing.
Can You Improve Your Walking Speed?
Yes, absolutely. The good news is, you can train yourself to walk faster and improve your overall fitness.
Dieli-Conwright designs exercise programs to help cancer patients regain strength, and she recommends gradually increasing the duration and intensity of walking. Try this:
- Walk more often
- Park further from your destination
- Take walking breaks during work
- Walk with friends or pets
Even a five-minute walk during your break can reduce the negative effects of sitting too long.
Final Thoughts: Walk Your Way to Better Health
Walking may seem like a basic activity, but it’s a powerful window into your body and brain’s ageing process. By paying attention to your pace, you can spot early signs of decline and take action before bigger problems arise.
So the next time you head out for a walk, remember – your speed isn’t just about getting there faster, it’s about how well your mind and body are working together.
Keep moving, and your brain will thank you.
