If you regularly walk with your spouse or partner, you may want to speed up. Or tell them. A new study from Purdue University nurses, health and exercise researchers, and researchers from human development and family studies shows that couples often reduced their speed when walking together. The speed decreased further as they held each other's hands.
The study looked at walking times and walking speeds of 141 individuals from 72 couples. The participants ranged from ages 25-79 and found themselves in a variety of environments, including clear or obstacle-filled paths, walking together, walking hand-in-hand together, and walking individually.
“In our research, we focused on couples because partners in committed relationships often provide essential support to promote each other's healthy lifestyles, including exercise,” said Melissa Franks, associate professor of human development and family studies.
Libby Richards, associate professor of nursing, says:“We hoped the speed at which partners walked together wouldn't slow down. We hoped that slower partners would go faster to match the faster partner, but that was not the case. It is important to note that any physical activity or walking – regardless of speed – is better than none.”
Richards says it's common for people to walk or exercise with a spouse, partner, or friend because it increases a person's chances of being active, especially since Americans are encouraged to hit a goal of 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. /P>
“If someone slows down significantly when they walk with someone else, that can negate some of the health benefits that are recognized from walking at a faster pace alone,” says Richards.
Shirley Rietdyk, professor of health and exercise sciences specializing in biomechanics, says there are many reasons to measure walking speed.
“Walking speed is important to measure because it is related to overall health. Typical walking speed is predictive of fall risk, functional ability, disability recovery and mortality,” says Rietdyk.
“Common exercise interventions, including strength, coordination and multimodal training, are all effective at increasing gait speed. These interventions can also delay the onset of a slower gait speed and help slow the loss of gait speed. otherwise, also do the activity you are most likely to stick to. ”
While walking is one of the easiest activities, people tend to walk more slowly as they get older and may need to find other fitness routines to stay active.
“Older adults who are more active tend to maintain their walking speed,” says Rietdyk. “In other words, slower walking speed is not an inevitable aspect of aging. Older adults who walk more slowly tend to have poorer health and functional status.”
