Can walking Faster Make You Live Longer?

Pick up the pace to add years to your life!

A recent study from the UK that looked at data including more than 470,000 people showed that on average the slower you walk, the shorter your lifespan. Since we have heard for years that simply walking may be beneficial as daily exercise, it is interesting to see that the pace at which you walk may actually add years to your life.

According to the study which included data from people with an average age of 58 years and average BMI of 26.7 it was found that regardless of the weight of a person – underweight or overweight, it seems if you walk faster than you would with a dog that sniffs all the plants along the street, you have a longer life. This helps to bring to light the general importance of type of exercise on health as compared to only body weight when it comes to longevity.

Walking is overall one of the best forms of activity that can be started at a young age and continued into the later years of life with low risk of injury as well as additional benefits to the cardiovascular system.

Considering life with diabetes increases cardiovascular risk, if you can add something to reduce that risk that doesn’t involve a gym or any additional expense, it may have longer reaching impact than just increasing life expectancy. For those with a chronic condition like diabetes it will also add quality to those years as well.