Why I’m Training My Clients (and Myself) to Walk Well for Brain Health and Longevity
Have you ever thought about how fast you walk? Probably not, unless you are on a hike with someone who walks faster than you. Then all you can think about is keeping up and how do their legs make them move faster than you even though they appear shortere!
Over 4 decades of competing sports, makes me a natural tracker of performance metrics. But now I’m not evaluating myself against people in their 20’s…yes I still do that…but people in the 80’s!
As a clinician working in lifestyle medicine and human performance, I constantly look at how biomechanics intersect with systemic health. It turns out that how fast and efficiently you walk is one of the most accurate windows we have into your biological age, neurological health, and lifespan.
The Science Behind the ‘Super-Mover’
A study published in Neurology reveals that older adults who maintain a brisk, robust gait—dubbed “super-movers”—don’t just have healthier joints and muscles; they exhibit remarkable cognitive resilience.
Dr. Joe Verghese and his team analyzed data from major aging cohorts involving thousands of older adults (average age 84). The results were clear:
- Dementia Risk: Super-movers were roughly 50% less likely to experience cognitive decline and 60% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias compared to their slower-walking peers over a multi-year follow-up.
- Brain Structure: Neuroimaging showed super-movers preserved significantly greater volume in the hippocampus—the brain’s central hub for memory and spatial navigation.
- Cognitive Reserve: Remarkably, post-mortem analyses revealed that even when super-movers had structural brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s, they frequently remained symptom-free in life. Their physical capacity helped build a buffer—a cognitive reserve.
Why Gait Speed Is So Useful
In clinical practice, I’ve heard people suggest that walking speed carries as much predictive weight as blood pressure, heart rate, or blood glucose…having said that when I brought it up with my doctor he brushed it off with a shrug…so it hasn’t reached grass roots medicine yet.
Walking isn’t just a basic mechanical task; it is a complex neurological event. To walk rapidly and with a balanced stride, your central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and musculoskeletal structures must operate in complete synchronization.
- Early Warning Indicator: Changes in gait dynamics—such as a shortened stride, decreased velocity, or subtle asymmetry—can show up to seven years before clinical symptoms of dementia appear (Verghese et al.).
- Cancer and Cardiovascular Protection: Large-scale population data from the UK Biobank (tracking over 335,000 adults) demonstrated that individuals walking at a brisk pace (~5–6 km/h) experienced significantly lower risks for multiple types of cancer. Furthermore, University of Sydney research showed that a brisk walking pace reduced all-cause mortality by 24%, with cardiovascular mortality risk dropping by over 50% in older demographics.
How Brisk Walking Protects the Nervous System
When you increase your walking speed, several metabolic and neurological cascades occur simultaneously:
- Neurotrophic Factor Release: Fast walking stimulates the production of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a key protein that promotes neuroplasticity, protects existing neurons, and encourages new synaptic connections.
- Myokine Signaling: Your lower body contains the largest muscle groups in human anatomy. When these muscles contract dynamically during brisk walking, they secrete specialized signaling peptides called myokines into the bloodstream, which reduce systemic inflammation and support brain cell survival.
- Cerebral Blood Flow: Higher-intensity movement increases pulsatile blood flow to the brain, optimizing oxygen delivery and nutrient clearance via the glymphatic system.
Test Your Gait: The 5-Meter Speed Check
In clinical settings, we often use short-distance velocity tests to calculate functional baseline speed. You can easily test this yourself:
- Measure out 5 meters on a flat, straight surface.
- Time how many seconds it takes you to walk that distance at your standard, purposeful pace.
- Divide 5 meters by your time in seconds to get your speed in meters per second (m/s).
- The Benchmark: A speed above 1.0 m/s (taking under 5 seconds to cover 5 meters) correlates with healthy biological aging and strong functional capacity.
- The Threshold: A gait speed dropping below 0.8 m/s indicates increased risk for physical frailty, fall hazards, and accelerated cognitive decline.
Note: Even incremental improvements matter—research shows that increasing your average gait speed by as little as 0.1 m/s correlates with measurable gains in functional independence and healthspan.
How To Improve Gait & Velocity
If you want to increase your walking speed and optimize your movement mechanics, focus on these structural and habits-based interventions:
- Restore Foot Mechanics & Toe Splay: Years of restrictive footwear narrow the forefoot, limiting the ground contact area of the hallux (big toe) and reducing propulsive power. Utilizing toe spacers and spending time barefoot on natural surfaces improves toe alignment, arch activation, and ground force transmission. Personally I like the company correct toes and used to exclusively sell their product in my clinic.
- Build Lower Leg Power (Single-Leg Calf Raises): An efficient stride requires strong ankles. Stand on one leg and perform slow, controlled calf raises through full range of motion. Aim to comfortably complete 20 continuous repetitions per side without significant compensation.
- Test Big Toe Engagement: Sit in a chair, place a small card under your big toe, and press down firmly into the floor without clawing your toes. Have someone pull the card; if it slides out easily, focus on strengthening your intrinsic foot flexors and posterior tibialis muscle.
- Integrate Retro (Backward) Walking: Walking backward forces a different neuromuscular coordination pattern, increases quadriceps and tibialis anterior recruitment, reduces knee joint stress, and sharpens proprioception. Start on a flat, clear path or a powered-off treadmill for 3–5 minutes.
- Maintain Postural Alignment: An upright posture optimizes biomechanical efficiency, opens the thoracic cavity for full diaphragmatic respiration, and reduces unnecessary energy expenditure through the kinetic chain.
References
- Verghese, J., et al. (2026). Gait performance, super-movers, and risk of cognitive decline in older adults. Neurology.
- Abellana, R., et al. (2017). Gait speed as a predictive biomarker for cognitive impairment and dementia onset. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 56(4), 1421-1429.
- Stamatakis, E., et al. (2018). Self-rated walking pace and all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality: individual participant pooled analysis of 50,225 walkers. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(12), 761-768.
- Zhai, X., et al. (2022). Association of walking pace with incident cancer risk: A prospective cohort study of 337,000 UK Biobank participants. European Journal of Epidemiology.
- Pedersen, B. K. (2019). Physical activity and muscle-brain crosstalk: myokines and BDNF in cognitive preservation. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 15(7), 383-392.
