This has got to be the dumbest study yet. Walking fast is basically excercise and we have been bombarded with studies on what that does for us. When I am walking, say through a parking lot, everone else walking is walking past me. I guess I will die before my time. How about a study on fast eaters compared to slow eaters? Men who stand to pee verses those that sit? The sex life of a slug would be interesting too.

The speed at which one walks across a busy intersection has a direct effect on their longevity also!

Can I get some funding for that study too?

Thank God correlation implies causation!

Good piece of information. Darwin would have loved it. Simple truth that pays to pickup your pace a bit.

Human beings evolved as walking machines that occasionally sprinted after game. So, walk fast and don't run too much and your hips and knees will last longer too.

From the article "It is a quick and inexpensive way for seniors to gauge their own health."

Perhaps the writer could have offered some 'quick and easy' suggestions as to how seniors might accomplish this, rather than ASSUMING us quick-minded seniors can figure it out for ourselves.

Editorial quality lacking here...GIVE US SOMETHING WE CAN USE!

i have noticed that the fast walkers are usually the ones given to procrastinations, rushing to catch up. they seem so anxious when they do that. what they gain in fast step they lose it to the stress. may be the life is one big zero sum game.

the only way out is doing yoga. and you can't do that without upsetting the christian clergy who make you feel like criminals.

If you walk too fast at all times, it is going to increase your adrenaline and anxiety.

Walking fast, such as exercise, is good but not all times.

Relax and enjoy the scenic view if one has.

Our hard earned tax money at work ladies and gentlemen. ^(

The Perfect FUN Workout:

Locate a good series of hills, or even use the same hill.

Run SLOWLY all downhills (this is part of doing everything you can to safeguard your ankles, lower leg, and knees for other sports).

SPRINT all uphills.

SING while sprinting. After you're sure your heart can take it...

Add 2 Aerobie rings, both thrown at once from BEHIND BACK with one arm so as not to interfere with running gait.

Alternate throws left and right arm for balance/coordination.

After the throw, whichever arm did it, both arms stay behind back whilst sprinting ahead to make the catch until the last possible microsecond, when both arms spring out to make their respective catches - this gives you boxing speed you never knew you had.

You'll find that as your proficiency with catching two-at-once increases, then also will your willingness to throw them out again IMMEDIATELY after catching them. After a few successful catches your running speed gets faster and faster, as the only real way to assure a good catch is to throw them more horizontal (in front of you) rather than vertical (above you). You're sprinting faster and faster the longer you run, its sort of built-in.

Remember to alternate left-right-left with each successive throw.

The more often you toss them, the faster you run - and since its FUN you find yourself sprinting uphill at speeds that REALLY amaze your ego, so encouraging that you exercise 2 or 3 times as long.

RULE: Whenever one drops - missed catch, bad throw, or just a chance to catch your breath - you have to SLOWLY jog halfway back to bottom of hill, or all the way if you're feeling frisky. Attack the hill again, until you reach your set goal of so many successful catches/distance covered/time elapsed, or whatever, then you catch your breath by running in circles, as running uphill is for sprinting ONLY! My new rule is that ANY reason to stop is an automatic 30 second downhill penalty at minimum.

RULE: Keep the minimums to a minimum.

Adjusting FUN-RUN to a high school running track, with its superior running surface, is easy:

Jog the curves slower, generally; your real decider is wind speed and direction. Since you're using Aerobie's rather than Frisbee's the wind really has to be kicking to make any difference.

Throw at a lower angle in front of you since you're not running uphill. Throw, hopefully, at an angle that will cause you to need to increase your speed DRASTICALLY to catch them (since you're NOT running uphill). Keep both hands behind back and wait till last second to shoot them out for their catches.

The discs almost always stay close enough together so that all you have to do is, while sprinting, position your torso midway between them - then the catch is assured (after much practice).

You'll find yourself chasing these things all over to your left and right, so that a quarter mile is really 3/8's running, so don't get discouraged if you don't cover the same distance - remember you're sprinting more, left and right - a zig-zag mile is MUCH longer than the measured mile, especially if you penalize yourself by turning around and losing ground whenever you drop them or find a reason to stop...

You'll find MANY reasons to stop after sprinting your heart out. Don't. Keep the jog, even if you're so tired you find yourself almost running in place...

Give yourself 2 seconds of slowness, then toss those suckers out there and you'll find that, even if you're TOTALLY exhausted, your body is AUTOMATICALLY sprinting ahead to catch those suckers - its like you've shifted into second gear and you're moving fast again!

Do this for only 10 minutes or so, then move to the grassy area inside the track (the football field) and play some CHINLONE (Burmese Kickball, a 1600 yr-old sport similar to hackey-sack - wiki it first, then YouTube it). I play with 11 balls in my hands so that when one falls I don't stop to pick it up (purposely losing a chance to catch my breath), I immediately toss out another to keep a constant, fluid movement of kicks and spin kicks until I'm so exhausted that I decide that sprinting again will let me catch my breath.

Grab the Aerobie's, hit the track and sprint till you cannot anymore, then switch back to Chinlone till you can't do that anymore, back and forth, throw a third sport in there if it gets boring, but it won't. Chinlone and double Aerobie jogging are the most fun I've ever had except for downhill skiing (haven't skydived yet) and skiing was almost (ALMOST) better than sex. When you do a spin-kick and nail it you feel like a toddler learning to walk - a new proficiency in 360 degrees - like a whole new world is just waiting to be explored - because its FUN.

When you get good at it, add a weighted backpack. I like the Camelback Mule as its short, which you need when throwing from behind the lower back.

This is excellent wide-receiver practice, a great boxing workout, obviously aerobics, kick-boxing, coordination, and is so much fun that you'll keep going for hours, ensuring that your endurance doesn't suffer either...

Jogging, when the rings get tossed too far out front, sometimes a lunge-kick will make for a perfect recovery of both rings. And you LOOKED GOOD doing it!

Just know that while learning you will LOOK like a goof-ball. That's the word I heard YELLED most often from passing cars back in the 90's when I decided to stick with it no matter what peeps said. I used to fall a lot when over-sprinting to catch a bad throw. Not so much these days.

These days I'm MUCH better, and I hear "KOOL!" or "What is that sport?"

I'm not dedicated like I should be - consuming pleasures - I've been fighting a well-earned bear-belly for years, but can also find myself going MANY months between workouts. Even so, I'm always good for a first-workout time of at least an hour jogging thanks to the FUN factor.

I now keep 11 chinlone balls, 2 Aerobies, swimsuit, towel, change of clothes, plenty of extra socks and a pair of running shoes in my trunk at all times. Besides a minisurvival kit w/blanket, water, binoculars, tools and an army entrenching tool (folding mini-shovel) the only other thing I keep in my trunk is extra space.

I'm getting old, but have been asked many times if I teach karate (sorry) and been told MANY times that I've the best workout routine many have ever seen. My only 2 hot buttons are people cussing in front of kids or bullying by anyone. Was in 2 fistfights last year (both men over 20 yrs younger than me!) and I won the fight I started and lost the other. I start way too many fights for someone my age (56), yet I'm still out there righting wrongs (as I see them - I've been wrong more than once) and saving damsels-in-distress.

Chinlone is a Fountain of Youth. So is good nutrition - haven't been sick a single day since July 1976 and I know its because I watch what I feed myself. No salt, sugar, deserts, or coffee except for holidays. I'll drink black coffee a couple times a year if I think I really need it or to be social.

Kick-volleyball is a whole other story. If you like to show off, like I do, then its a good sport to learn...

Some of you are missing the point, as did whoever wrote the headline for the article:

How fast you normally walk is an accurate indicator of your overall health, and that's an indicator for how long you'll live.

End of story.

If you start exercising (more) now, and get to where you normally walk faster, your health and chances for living longer will be improved. Unfortunately, lots of people are in such poor health now that their bodies aren't able to sustain the effort to improve their condition.

and chosing to eat less meat and dairy in ones diet is actually best way to live longer - everyone knows it

When I see a middle aged person walking very slowly, I know they have underlying pathology. A middle aged person walking briskly reflects better health. This study is foolish because it is obvious the faster walking person is healthier. The article does not tell you to walk faster to get healthy, it says, if you cannot walk fast, try to address the underlying health issues.

We should take this to the logical conclusion all other health related studies do and mandate that those clocked walking slower than the federal minimum speed have to pay more for their health insurance. Why should us fast walkers have to pay for you slow moving death walkers?!?

My wife is always complaining that I walk so fast. I guess I'll live a while. But then I'm sure there is something else I do that some study will show shortens my life.

Maybe reading reports about health studies is bad for peoples health.

Step One: Turn OFF the TV.

Step Two: Get vertical.

Step Three: DO anything, but keep moving.

Step Four: Buy new wardrobe!

this is so stupid

I started running in 2007 to lose weight, so far I have lost 60 pounds. I signed up for the Chicago Marathon, it will be my 5th Marathon and my 1st world major. I have started a blog to document my journey from an over weight, couch potato to a marathon runner.

fitatfifty-art.blogspot.com/

I would appreciate all comments to my blog.

Walking faster may increase your life span, but how can you go about walking quickly effectively? I think I've found a pretty good resource for that here:

Walking faster may increase your life span, but how can you go about walking quickly effectively? I think I've found a pretty good resource for that here: