Can you walk and read at the same time? Great, get up then, we’ll do this on the move and energetically. Faster than that. Think: “Meetings in the West Wing Corridor.” Think: “The owner is trying to keep up with the Border Collie at Crufts without really starting to run.”
Okay, now carry on like your life depended on it. Because, in a way, it does. A new study has found that having a “fast walk” can drastically slow down aging, to the point that by the time a fast walker reaches middle age, their body will be the equivalent of 16 years younger than that of a “worker.”
For the first time, the researchers used data from UK Bioband, a database containing the health information of half a million people, to reach their conclusion. According to the study’s lead author, Dr. Paddy Dempsey, from the University of Leicester, “it suggests that measures such as habitually slower walking speed are a simple way to identify people at higher risk of chronic disease or unhealthy ageing.” “.
This is good news for anyone with an interest in living longer and an aversion to more strenuous exercise or team sports. After all, brisk walking can easily be included in our daily routine, doesn’t require any equipment, is easier on the joints than running, and can be accompanied by a call, a podcast, or a friend.
It is also news that I have taken in stride, as I am a person who walks where I can, for better or, more often, for worse. Coming to and from work, across town to a Soho hotel to interview an A-list actor in an ITV period drama, back from late nights… I’ll be with you all, and quite agile.
Does my insistence on never agreeing to take a taxi or bus after a long day regularly infuriate someone at my company? Absolutely. Do I arrive at many professional and social events unacceptably sweaty? Oh, you can bet.
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