A large-scale study, organized jointly by several universities and medical schools in Australia, has made it possible to establish that such an exercise as walking at a rapid pace can significantly increase the life expectancy of a person. The control group was made up of 1,705 men aged 70 years.

Researchers asked them different standards for the speed of daily walking and monitored the progress of their implementation, while analyzing the changes in their state of health. Optimal changes in the body condition of the control group members started to be observed when the walking speed was 1.8 miles per hour, or 2.9 km / h, which is equivalent to walking at an accelerated pace. At the same time, the most positive results were noted in the group of elderly people who made daily walks at a speed of 3 miles per hour or 4.83 km / h, which can already be classified as fast walking.

According to official estimates, elderly people moving at a speed exceeding 3 km / h during the five years of the study died less often at 23% of the average statistical values. As for the subjects who daily walked at a speed of about 5 km / h, in this group, not one of its members did not die in the study, although initially the health status of all the control group was approximately the same. According to the official wording - "daily walking at a speed of 5 km / h allow people to be one step ahead of death". Approximately similar results were obtained from a series of studies published a few months earlier in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

There, in particular, it was noted that regular walking can significantly reduce the risk of many diseases, as well as strengthen the body in many diseases, as well as in the case of older people.

However, with respect to the length of walking, the researchers' recommendations vary considerably. If some scientists advise giving this lesson up to 20 minutes a day, then others consider the optimal 30 minutes of exercise. Australian scientists advise to determine the time of exercise on the advice of the attending physician, and also based on their own feelings.

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