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Want to delay death? Pick up the pace of your walking, suggests a new study.
Seniors who walk briskly may be able to delay death, essentially outrunning the Grim Reaper, a new study suggests.
Australian researchers with a wry sense of humor say they have calculated the average walking speed of the specter of death -- and it’s about 2 miles per hour.
Walk faster than that and you may outrun the Grim Reaper, too, they argue in a new study published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal.
"As none of the men in the study with walking speeds of [3 miles per hour] or greater had contact with Death, this would seem to be the Grim Reaper's most likely maximum speed; for those wishing to avoid their allotted fate this would be the advised walking speed,” the authors wrote.
The team of researchers, based at Concord Hospital in Sydney, followed more than 1,700 older men for five years, studying the walking speeds of those who died and those who didn’t.
The men were timed with a stopwatch as they walked about 20 feet at a normal pace. During the five years that the men were followed, 266 died. Overall, their pace was slower than that of those who survived, leading the researchers to determine that people need to walk at least 3 miles per hour if they want to outrun death.
Despite its tongue-in-cheek style, the report still sends a serious message: Slow walking can be a sign that death is nipping at your heels.
Slow walking is probably both a marker for poor health and an alert that some things need to be changed to improve the health of a senior, said Dr. Anne Cappola, a gerontologist and a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Researchers are looking into the theory that you can get people to live longer if you can get them moving faster, Cappola said. “People are trying things like resistance training and getting people to walk more,” she added. “That can be difficult when older people are living in confined living spaces or are afraid to go outside because of where they live.”
While other researchers have noticed that slower movers tend to die sooner, the approach of the humorous new study might spur more seniors to speed up their pace, Cappola said.
''People need to walk faster,” she said. “And if they’re doing it to outrun death that works just fine.”
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It is not clear whether the main point of the article is that attempting to walk faster (i.e., more rigorous exercise) prevents an early death, or that walking slowly is indicative of an underlying life-threatening condition (such as coronary artery disease and/or congestive heart failure). That is, it is not clear from the article, whether the inactivity is a cause of the problem or an indicator thereof. In reality, it is both.
"Use it or lose it".
Unless your in Texas in the summer, then that speed'll kill you
why? it's rather slow paced walk i thought.
Don't fool yourself. Exercise kills! I was cycling once and a dog ran up and started nipping at the pedals. As I kicked him away I lost my balance and became entagled with the bike pedas and spokes. I had some bruising and raw spots that were very painful. Think how much worse it would have been had I not been in the house on a stationary bike!
Sounds like you need a dog trainer.
How about pepper spray?
John, I have trained him to nip at cyclist. He's getting pretty good.
LB, how did you know my dog's name was Pepper? Amazing!
Sirlafalot, you're my favorite.
You are pretty darn swell yourself! Peace and love over the holidays to you and yours.
lovnafireman wrote: "My 5 year old also has manual dexterity issues because of the inability to sit still to learn fine motor skills and actually video games are highly recommended to help him with his manual dexterity."
Manual dexterity issues? Video games for treatment? Are you outta your mind?
booya, where did you get the quote from lovnafireman? Just curious. I don't see it. Oh, and Video games do help in manual dexterity by the way. As much as I hate to admit it.
In my younger years I chased skirts...man, I was in great shape!
Beev, did you ever catch any?? Ha. Is that anything like a dog chasing cars??
Walking drives the lungs which drive the heart. You slow down and stop walking and you lose lung capacity which then affects your heart. Do not wait until you are "older". It becomes tough to get out of the house and walk anywhere when you do not feel well. Also, you must do at least some weight training to build up muscle for your body. Older people almost always suffer from poor circulation. Walking and weight training will improve circulation. Don't forget your diet and that gut hanging over your belt. The latter will kill you.
My 86 y.o. mother has slowed down so much. I bought her a walker, but there is nothing I can do to make her leave the house and become active. She never really feels well. This artical only scares me more.
Again, only men were studied. Lazy researchers.
I have some news for these researchers: you can walk 100 miles per hour but the Grim Reaper is still going to catch up with you eventually. You can't "outrun death" as stated in the article. Still, the advice is good. People should walk more and walk briskly for good health.
Slow or fast, plain ol' walking, PERIOD, is good for you.
It is beneficial to walk 3 mph in the case that the "Grim Reaper" strolls at 2.6.
Sounds more like an indicator of overall health. Slowing down gives you less capacity to walk fast, which slows you down, etc in a negative feedback loop.
I've always walked very fast, so I guess I'll live forever, or until Dec 23, 2012.
Sensationalism to grab eyeballs. The story is 14 sentences long and mentions death, specter of death, or grim reaper 10 times. Please. Try some original reporting.
Look at the audience they are entertaining. Why should they?
Once again, correlation does not imply causation. It is just as likely that poor health caused both slower walking and earlier death. I am so so tired of reading articles like this that show a correlation between two things and conclude on no basis whatsover that one of them caused the other. What has happened to scientific training?
My father tried to walk at least a mile each day and he lived to 89. I try to do the same, and have gotten up to a mile and a half in the time of half an hour, so I guess that's three miles per hour. However, that's not my normal walking speed around the house. However, regular exercise does make me feel better, both physically and emotionally.
My grandfather walked as far as his wine cabinet and live to be 98. He was a hard worker throughout his life though so that might have helped.
I heard of too many joggers and runners getting hurt or killed by cars or stray dogs, then there is the weather thing.
Bought myself a elliptical machine , no special shoes needed and i stay in the safety of my own home while i listen to jimmy buffet on sirrus fm gotta love dish network.
What cracks me up is all those joggers in their sexy little spandex outfits, jogging along the streets and deep-breathing all those exhaust fumes.
That has to be really good for your lungs and heart.
I used to walk 3 mph, but now as I've aged my knee is giving me troubles. I had the cartilage removed about 40 years ago back in college. I can ride a bicycle and combine walking with bicycle riding. Today with a swollen knee, I walked 2.4 miles, rode a bicycle 7 miles and pruned an apple tree. Hopefully, the 3 mph is not mandatory for people with old knee injuries.
If I was walking along and glanced over my shoulder to see the Grim Reaper trailing me I would suddenly be running a 26 mile marathon. That guy is damn scary, just ask Ebenezer Scrooge.
I'd say "don't fear the reaper", but then I might have to outrun the SOPA gendarme wielding something more threatening than a scythe: a copyright infringement court summons!
Your classic "The Tortoise and the Tortoiser" story... Except this time the slow go'er is awarded by DEATH! The Brothers Grimm would have certainly approved!
I always have to walk fast because I'm usually running late from being too slow.
I think all these researchers achieved was a means of detecting those whose health was weaker in general, viz. slow walking was just an indicator rather than a cause.
How did this research get past peer review with such sloppy thinking?
I walk very slowly.Maybe 2 mph.I'm very healthy and have a hreat rate in the low 50's.I guess it's because I run about 50 miles a wk.
It would be nice if the grim reaper would take an extra long vacation.
so the slow moving turtles must have very short life span