NEDERLAND — As humans, walking is one of the first things we learn how to do. It’s a huge milestone when a child takes their first steps. As we get older, however, we start to take walking for granted. We walk around the house, we walk to and from the car, and for many people that’s about it. No other extra steps are taken unless there’s a dog that needs to be walked. But what if walking was the key to helping us age less quickly?

Let’s start with the facts. Walking less than 2500 steps (~25 minutes) a day is considered a sedentary lifestyle, and the health consequences of a sedentary lifestyle are staggering. A sedentary lifestyle can cause chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sarcopenia and muscle atrophy, osteoporosis, joint dysfunction, depression, brain atrophy, and inflammation all present an increased risk of mortality. 

Getting out and walking in nature (at every age) is ideal.

Photo by Sara Sandstrom

Here is where walking and the benefits of walking come in. According to Dr. Courtney Conley—foot health expert, founder of Gait Happens, and co-author of “Walk: Your Life Depends on It”: accumulating just 3,800 steps (~40 minutes) a day reduces the risk of developing dementia by 25%.

Pushing that number up to 9,800 steps a day cuts the risk of dementia by 51%. For overall mortality, however, the true sweet spot plateaus between 7,000 and 8,000 steps per day (70-80 minutes). 

The speed at which you walk matters. Your walking speed (gait speed) can predict the onset of dementia up to seven years before the first cognitive symptom appears. Dr. Conley prescribes a fast cadence of 136 steps per minute because it acts as a metabolic turning point, delivering the high-intensity cardiorespiratory benefits of a jog entirely through a walk.

Biomechanically, this rapid tempo forces you to take shorter, quicker steps that land directly beneath your body, forcing your muscles to absorb the impact rather than damaging your knees and lower back. This gives you more steps, in less time, and provides healthy brain benefits. 

Is walking the fountain of youth? Almost but not quite. As excellent as walking is for cardiorespiratory health and brain function, it operates primarily on a horizontal plane and lacks the high-intensity load required to protect your frame over time.

Walking keeps muscles moving, but it does not provide enough mechanical tension to build or even preserve muscle tissue as we age. Walking is rarely enough to stimulate significant new bone growth, especially in the upper body and hips. The real fountain of youth is a combination of walking and strength training. 

You can begin making a positive impact on your health, by walking, at any age. If you’re not sure where to start, aim for a 15-minute walk in the morning and 15-minute walk in the evening. Bring your phone and set a metronome for 100 beats per minute. Once you can walk at that pace, aim for 105 then 110, etc., until you are able to do 136.

Once your 30 minutes of walking becomes habitual, add two sets of lunges and push-ups to your post walk routine a few days a week. Then gradually build up until you can achieve 7,000 steps a day as part of your daily routine. 

While walking is not the fountain of youth, it comes closer to it than anything else.  

Alison Powers is a certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine). She is a former professional downhill skier and cyclist. Today she is the coach of the Nederland High School Mountain Bike Team and has her own training center, the Indian Peaks Training Center. Learn more at iptrainingcenter.com or email Alison Powers at apowbike@gmail.com.