Walk Faster Live Longer: Surprising Study of 64,743 Adults

Walk faster, live longer: that is the pattern researchers found in a study of 64,743 adults in the United Kingdom, in which both more daily steps and a quicker pace went with lower death rates, Harvard Health reported.

What the study tracked

The research appeared Sept. 8 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. It is not a Harvard study; Harvard Health summarized it. Participants averaged 62 years old and wore a wrist tracker for one week. Over about eight years of follow-up, 1,697 of them died, 502 from cardiovascular causes.

To test whether people who walk faster live longer, the team sorted people into four groups by daily steps: fewer than 5,000, 5,000 to 7,500, 7,500 to 10,000 and more than 10,000. For pace, it took each person’s average steps per minute across the 30 busiest minutes of the day, which did not have to be back to back.

How the walk faster live longer pattern showed up

Harvard Health said people who took fewer than 5,000 steps a day at a faster pace had cardiovascular death risk similar to those taking 5,000 to 7,500 steps at a slower pace. The lowest death rates overall were among people taking 7,500 to 10,000 steps a day. That suggests pace may help people who cannot fit in many steps.

What the results do not show

The study was observational, so the walk faster live longer link is only an association and cannot prove that walking causes people to live longer. Healthier people may simply walk more and faster. Activity was measured for only one week, and the participants were mostly middle-aged and older UK adults, so the results may not apply to everyone.

People with health conditions or who have been inactive should talk with a doctor before starting a new exercise routine. For related reading, see our pieces on whether exercise variety matters and a quick stress reset.