An Extra 14 Steps Per Minute Could Bring Big Benefits

Picking up your walking pace—even later in life—can deliver surprising health benefits, according to new research. Researchers followed 102 Chicago-area retirement community residents, most using canes or walkers and averaging about 3,700 steps a day, to see whether a faster walking cadence could boost physical function, per the Washington Post. The study divided participants, median age 79, into two groups: one walked at a comfortable pace, the other as briskly as safely possible—logging about 100 steps per minute compared to the casual group's 77. Both groups walked three times a week for four months, incorporating warmups, stair-stepping, and ankle weights. By the end, the high-intensity group saw greater gains in how far they could walk in six minutes.

Daniel Rubin of the University of Chicago, lead author of the study published this month in PLOS One, emphasized that the intensity of exercise—not just the act of walking—can bring measurable improvements, regardless of age. "It's okay to sweat a little bit, to have your heart racing a little bit, to breathe a little heavier," he tells the Post. "Even as a 79-year-old." Small increases in pace—about 14 extra steps per minute—were linked to the biggest benefits. The researchers note the findings may not fully translate to unsupervised routines. Still, experts agree that any walking is better than none. For those well below the recommended 7,000–8,000 daily steps, experts suggest adding 500 steps per week. But the message: Move more—and if you can, move faster.