A study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examined the walking speed of older adults to see how it affected their life expectancy. The study analyzed the results of nine other scientific studies as well.

All nine studies combined together totaled more than 34,000 senior adults, 65 years of age and older. Their average age was 73. Sixty percent were women, and 80% were white. This group was followed for 6 to 21 years. In all the studies there were 17,528 deaths.

Researchers measured walking speed at the beginning of the study, by timing subjects at their normal, comfortable walking pace for a distance of about 13 feet. 

Normal walking requires teamwork in the body starting with the muscles, bones, and joints. Its also a workout of the heart, lungs, and circulation, coordinated by nerves and the brain.

Exercise adds years to your life.

Want some proof? Scientists spent 35 years studying the exercise habits of Swedish men, who were 50 years old at the beginning of the research. Their findings were published in the British Medical Journal.

The study began in 1970 with 2,205 50-year-old men. The men were re-examined at ages 60, 70, 77 and 82.

Their physical activity levels were classified as:

• “low” (325 men), 
• “medium,” (802 men) or 
• “high” (1078 men). 

At the end of 35 years, 60% (1,329 men) of the original study group had died.