Walk Fast, Live Long

(The original article is written for a local church newsletter.)

Fish were created to swim, birds were created to fly, and men were created to walk (although some are born to run). Even though most of the land creatures crawl or walk in all fours, human beings stand upright and walk on their two feet. From the dawn of history – from evading our predators, to the present – to strutting on the catwalk, moving on our feet is key to our survival.

We may not think of it much, but there is a lot of science, physics and physiology in standing and walking upright. How a creature can remain vertically steady against gravity without tipping over is already a marvel. And to move by shifting our weight from one foot to the other like an inverted pendulum and remaining perfectly balanced and straight up while walking is really amazing. Sometimes this equilibrium malfunction, like people who suffered stroke, and walking becomes a challenge. Indeed, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

The most physiologic way of going from point A to point B for humans is by walking (not Segway). It is estimated that an average human being will walk 65,000 to more than 100,000 miles in his lifetime depending on his level of activity. (65,000 miles is almost 3 times the distance around the world.) The thing is the more we walk, the better. Unlike cars, humans last longer with higher mileage.

Studies have showed that the more active we are, the healthier we become, and the longer we live. In one study, researcher analyzed more than four decades of data from the Framingham Heart Study. They found that life expectancy at age 50 for people with medium activity was 1.5 years longer than those with low activity, while the high activity people live 3.5 years longer.

For most people, the optimum walking speed, that is the speed where our kinetic energy  is balanced with our potential energy, is around 3 miles per hour. We may not consciously think on how fast we walk, but our walking speed can be a simple reflection of how healthy we are, or how well our body systems are doing.

In a recent study that was published in Journal of American Medical Association this year, it stated that walking speed predicts life span and health. It was a meta-analysis of 9 separate studies of individuals 65 years or older. The study measured the walking speed of more than 34,000 seniors. They found that for every one-tenth of one meter per second increase in walking speed, survival rates for additional years increased exponentially.

Thus walking faster just not make you reach your destination earlier, or just make you appear that you are a man with a mission. It is also an indication of your longevity.

Let’s walk. And a little bit faster please.

Ang taong naglalakad ng matulin, (kung matinik malalim)………..buhay nama’y mahaba ang aabutin.