Need a good reason to start walking as a regular method of getting daily activity? How about three! Just by tying on a pair of walking shoes most days of the week, you may lower your risk of stroke, slow the age-related changes in your body, and predict your longevity.

Walking and Lower Stroke Risk

A new study out of Spain followed 19, 416 women and 13,576 men who were between the ages of 29-69 years of age who participated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort that was recruited between 1992 and 1996. Most of these participants were blood donors who were more often in good health since they were able to give blood.  

This longitudinal study included regular follow-up meetings between study participants and the researchers over a period of approximately 12 years. The researchers used a questionnaire to assess participants’ physical activity as well as the number of hours each week that participants were active.  The researchers also had data on the participants’ diet, lifestyle habits and medical history. The researchers divided participants into groups that were classified by gender, type of physical activity performed as well as the total amount of time that was spent exercising each week.

The researchers learned that there were 120 transient ischemic attacks as well as 442 stroke cases during the follow-up period. Interestingly, recreational activity seemed to safeguard the female participants from the risk of cardiovascular disease but not the male participants. Furthermore, the researchers’ analysis found that female participants who walked for more than 3.5 hours per week had a lower risk of stroke than those who didn’t engage in regular walking. However, the researchers did not find significant association between other leisure time activities and vigorous physical activity with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in either men or women.

Walking and Age-Related Physical Changes

It’s also important to realize that walking actually helps minimize age-related changes in the ability to get around easily as we age. In a 2012 study out of Stanford University, researchers tried to determine differences in the mechanics of walking between who were younger than 40. Of this group, a highly active population who were older than 50 years old and a group who were younger than 40 years of age. The older group included 79 participants who were between the ages of 50-64 years of age and 54 participants between 65 and 80 years of age. This older group walked more than 7,500 steps a day based on a seven-day activity monitoring history.

The Stanford researchers found that middle-aged and older adults had less foot, ankle, leg and hip flexibility when they walked than their younger counterparts. However, the researchers found that  a high volume of walking by middle-age and older participants helped minimize the  amount of age-related changes on their feet, legs, ankles and hips as compared to older adults who were inactive.