Does my walking speed say anything about how fast I am ageing?
Walking speed is linked to risk of dying sooner, cognitive health and biological ageing, and people who walk faster than expected given their health situation appear to be clearly better off. No complex test is needed: simply keeping track of whether you walk at a brisk pace is already a useful signal.
Walking speed is clearly linked to how your body ages. In a Swedish study of more than 3,000 people in their sixties and older, those who walked faster than expected given their illnesses and medications had a 29% lower chance of dying over the study period. Even more striking: people with a genetic profile that was unfavourable for longevity had a higher risk of death, but that genetic disadvantage disappeared in those who functioned well physically. Whether walking speed makes the difference or is simply a reflection of better health cannot be determined from this, but the connection is clearly there.
Walking speed also reveals something about your cognitive health. Older people find it much harder than younger people to walk and think at the same time, and how erratically someone walks is a more sensitive measure than average speed. A study of 266 older adults showed that a model based on walking characteristics such as speed, step asymmetry and step variability identified mild cognitive problems more accurately than standard health data. Independent confirmation is still lacking, but it suggests that your walking pattern reflects more than just muscle strength.
Walking speed and biological age can change together. In a small study of 47 frail older adults (average age 80), a combination of nutrition and supervised exercise over six months improved walking speed while at the same time biological age decreased. This is preliminary and based on a small group, but it suggests that physical activity does not only improve your walking performance but may also engage biological ageing processes.
One widely used ageing measure falls short here: telomere length in blood has almost no relationship with walking speed. This tempers enthusiasm for telomeres as the definitive measure of how fast your body is ageing. Walking speed is also linked to cancer risk: in large studies, fast walkers had a 13% to 45% lower chance of developing cancer than slow walkers, with a particularly large difference for lung cancer (53% lower risk). There was one notable exception: a slightly higher risk of prostate cancer in fast walkers, for which researchers have no good explanation.
This answer draws on studies with large numbers of participants from Sweden, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong (hundreds of thousands of participants combined), supplemented by a small study of 47 older adults, an overview of 39 studies on walking and thinking, and an overview of 20 studies on walking patterns and cognitive vulnerability. The large studies measure association only: they cannot prove that walking speed is the cause of better health or a lower risk of dying sooner. The biological age study was small and cannot on its own deliver firm conclusions on this point. The evidence on a different biological age marker and walking speed is well covered: four British studies of people followed for years found no meaningful association.
Can intense exercise actually make you age faster?
Regular, well-paced exercise keeps cells measurably younger, as seen in longer telomeres and less DNA damage. How you structure your training determines whether you reap that benefit.
Does my grip strength say anything about how long I will live?
Low grip strength is associated in large-scale research with a noticeably higher risk of premature death, though muscle power says even more. Feel free to measure your grip strength as one of the signals of your overall muscle function, but do not draw hard conclusions from it without weighing the rest of your fitness.
How much exercise do I need to live longer?
The biggest health leap comes from just a little exercise. Going from nothing to 150 minutes per week gives a 31% lower chance of dying early; beyond that the benefit grows somewhat further but then levels off.
Does strength training help with healthy ageing?
Strength training is one of the best-supported interventions for healthy ageing: training two to three times per week with progressive resistance demonstrably improves muscle strength, mobility and independence, even at an advanced age.
How much rest do my muscles need between workouts as I get older?
Getting older does not call for more rest, but for more regular training: at least two resistance-training sessions per week, supplemented with adequate protein, is the best-supported approach for counteracting muscle loss.
How many extra years of life does regular walking provide?
Regular walking is associated with two to six extra years of life, with the greatest gain for people who currently barely move. Even half an hour per day makes a measurable difference.