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9 common walking mistakes after 50, and what 83 studies say to do instead: why a short walk still counts, how brisk is brisk, where to look as you walk, and which slippers are safest.
Health & Wellness Disclaimer
This article is for general information only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Speak to your GP or another qualified healthcare professional before making major changes to your activity routine, particularly if you have a medical condition, are pregnant, are returning after illness or injury, or develop chest pain, severe breathlessness, dizziness or unusual pain.
As we get older, many of us start watching our feet, in case we trip. Others grew up being told never to look down. But when walkers wore eye trackers outdoors, they did neither. Where they did look is mistake number 5.
Welcome to Walks4all, where we read the walking research so you don't have to.
Here are 9 common walking mistakes after 50, and what the studies say to do instead. For each one, you'll hear what the research found, the catch, and our takeaway.
Mistake 1: thinking a short walk isn't worth the bother.
Many of us feel a walk only counts if it's long, or if the step counter reaches 10,000.
Across 15 groups of adults, more than 47,000 people, those taking about 5,800 steps a day had a 40 per cent lower risk of dying than those on about 3,550. That first step up made the biggest difference.
Two more large analyses, of more than 140,000 people between them, found the same pattern, with a lower risk of dying from as few as about 2,600 steps a day. And in a Japanese study, for people over 75, about 1,800 steps a day was linked to a lower risk of death. Timing helps too.
In 41 adults with type 2 diabetes, a 10-minute walk after each main meal lowered blood sugar after meals about 12 per cent more than one 30-minute walk a day.
A second study, in inactive people over 60, found walks after meals did as well as one longer walk, and better after dinner.
The catch: the step studies are observational, and illness itself may lower steps.
The blood sugar studies covered hours and weeks, not long-term health. And over 60, the benefit levelled off at 6,000 to 8,000 steps.
Our Walks4all takeaway: every walk matters.
If you're not very active now, those first extra steps can do the most good, and a 10-minute walk after a meal is one of the best walks of the day.
Mistake 2: strolling every step.
Many of us keep every walk at the same comfortable amble. Picking up the pace adds benefits, and takes no extra time.
In adults aged 61 to 85, brisk walking started at about 100 steps a minute, or about 105 judged by heart rate and effort. That's about 25 steps in 15 seconds, so count them on a flat stretch.
In more than 50,000 British walkers, a brisk pace was linked to a 24 per cent lower risk of death than a slow one, and in UK adults wearing trackers, a brisk pace made up for fewer steps.
And in a Japanese trial, three minutes fast and three minutes easy, four days a week for five months, raised thigh strength by 13 per cent, more than steady walking did, and people kept it up 70 per cent of the time over 22 months.
The catch: very hard effort briefly raises the chance of a heart attack, most of all in people who rarely exercise.
So build up your pace over weeks, and if you have chest pain or a heart condition, please speak to your GP first.
Pace also partly reflects health, since slower walkers may already be unwell, and in the Japanese trial only about half the interval group met their target.
Our Walks4all takeaway: on most walks, try walking briskly for part of the way, at a pace where you can talk but not sing, or about 100 steps a minute.
Alternate three minutes at this faster pace with three minutes at an easier pace to get started.
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Mistake 3: arms pinned to your sides, or hands in your pockets.
On a cold morning, many of us walk with our hands in our pockets, as if our arms did nothing. Yet they're part of the walking machine, swinging in time with the opposite leg.
In a laboratory study, holding the arms still raised the energy used by about 12 per cent above standing, and a review agreed that arm swing most likely saves.
Arm swing shrinks with age, but walking faster brings it back. And two small studies found swinging arms may help you recover from a trip and keep you steadier from side to side. Poles go further: Nordic walking burned about 20 per cent more calories at the same speed, without feeling any harder, and a review of 22 trials in older adults found modest gains in blood pressure and fitness.
One thing worth knowing: in small studies, people with early Parkinson's, and symptom-free carriers of a Parkinson's gene, swung their arms unevenly.
A sore shoulder or a heavy bag is a far more common reason, but if one arm has recently started swinging less, mention it to your GP.
The catch: these are small laboratory studies, not everyday walks outdoors, and in another, older adults used their arms more to break a fall than to stop one.
In one trial, Nordic walking was no better than ordinary walking for most outcomes, and we couldn't find any data on falls with poles.
Our Walks4all takeaway: let your arms swing.
Walking a little faster brings the swing back, and poles add support and more of a workout.
Mistake 4: stretching before you set off, or setting off at full pace.
Many of us were taught to hold each stretch until it felt tight. Others stride out of the front door at full speed.
Across 25 trials and more than 26,000 people, stretching made no difference to injuries, while strength training cut them to less than a third.
Two reviews found long holds leave muscles a little weaker for a while, and in people over 65, five minutes of calf stretching briefly made standing balance less steady, though walking was unaffected.
A warm-up through movement is different: across 32 studies, it improved performance in 79 per cent of the measures. For a walker, that's the first five minutes at an easy pace. And strength training improved range of motion as much as stretching did.
The catch: most of these trials involved young, active people,and short stretches are harmless: three 30-second thigh stretches didn't weaken older women's legs. So if you enjoy stretching, or a physio has given you one, keep doing it.
Our Walks4all takeaway: skip the stretches.
Start with an easy five-minute walk, then pick up the pace and add a little more each week.
Mistake 5: watching your feet, or staring at the horizon.
So where do steady walkers look?
Walkers wearing eye trackers outdoors looked at the ground two to four steps ahead, about a second and a half in front.
On rough ground, almost all their gaze stayed on the path, and their steps shortened.
With age, gaze drops closer to the feet, a review of 53 eye-tracking studies found, and worry lowers it further: older walkers at higher risk looked only one or two steps ahead, and made more stepping errors.
Walkers at high risk of falls also look away from each stepping spot too soon.
In a small trial, watching each spot until the heel touched down cut stepping errors, and in a year-long trial, stepping practice with general exercise cut the fall rate by about 65 per cent.
Varifocals matter too: you see the ground just ahead through the reading part of the lens. Over a year, multifocal wearers were more than twice as likely to fall.
And in a trial of 606 varifocal and bifocal wearers, distance-only glasses for walking cut falls by about 40 per cent in those who went out regularly.
The catch: the gaze studies are small, and the stepping trial counted errors, not falls.
The stepping programme came with general exercise, so its share can't be separated out. And the glasses trial's overall result wasn't significant: the benefit was only in people who went out regularly, and outdoor falls rose in those who rarely did.
If that's you, ask your optician first.
Our Walks4all takeaway: look a few steps ahead, not down at your feet or up at the sky. On tricky ground, watch where each foot lands.
If you walk a lot in varifocals, ask your optician about distance-only glasses for walking.
Mistake 6: rushing and shuffling.
Most of us picture falls happening to frail people indoors, but many happen outdoors, to active people.
In a year-long study of 96 older adults, trips and slips caused 59 per cent of falls, with hurrying the reason given most often, and a second study, of women over 65, found much the same.
Outdoors, in more than 2,000 people aged 45 and over, most falls were caused by the surroundings, usually on pavements, kerbs and streets.
And in Boston, older adults who fell outdoors tended to be younger, active and healthy.
With age, foot clearance varies more from step to step, and more again in people who fall, so the odd low step can catch a raised slab.
And in near darkness on a treadmill, people around 50 walked as unsteadily as people in their 70s.
The catch: active people spend more time outdoors, and fall studies rely on memory.
One small study cut the other way: toe clearance measured in a lab didn't predict everyday trips. No trial has shown that lifting your feet prevents falls on its own.
The strength and balance work in mistake 9 is what's been shown to prevent falls.
Our Walks4all takeaway: give yourself time, lift your feet, and take kerbs and poorly lit areas slowly. Even fit walkers can trip.
Mistake 7: the wrong shoes, worn-out shoes, or socks and backless slippers indoors.
Many of us wear the pair by the door until the sole gives out. Slippers were tested too.
Which was worse for balance and walking: socks, or backless slippers? Have a guess. Backless slippers.
In 30 women aged 65 to 83, balance and walking were best in enclosed slippers with a firm sole and a fastening, poorer in socks, and worst in backless ones.
Socks carry their own risk.
Comparing older people who'd fallen with those who hadn't, trainers and canvas shoes were linked to the lowest risk, and bare feet or socks to about 11 times the risk, though that figure is very uncertain.
A second study found the same indoors, and a review recommends low heels and firm, slip-resistant soles.
For older people with painful feet, a podiatry package of insoles, footwear advice and foot exercises cut falls by 36 per cent. And no study sets a date for replacing walking shoes, though midsoles do stiffen with use, so check them every few months for a squashed midsole, smooth tread or a tilting heel.
The catch: the podiatry trial tested several things at once, and the sock and slipper studies were small, with wide margins of uncertainty.
Thin, flexible shoes aren't always worse, either: brought in gradually over a year, they improved balance scores in people over 65, though fall rates didn't differ.
Our Walks4all takeaway: choose comfortable, grippy, low-heeled shoes that fasten, or slippers with backs. Avoid wearing ordinary socks on hard or slippery floors.
Mistake 8: walking with your eyes on your phone.
Many of us do it, and after 50 the habit may be a little riskier than it was.
When 308 adults walked while texting, everyone slowed down, and people over 50 slowed below the walking speed many pedestrian crossings are timed for.
Across 22 studies, texting and reading slowed walking too. Calls are a different risk.
They didn't slow people's walking, but in a virtual street crossing test, older adults on the phone were less likely to finish crossing in time. And in US emergency departments, phone-related pedestrian injuries rose faster than pedestrian injuries overall.
The catch: most phone injury studies involve young people, and a charged phone is one of the most useful safety items you can carry.
The advice is to stop before using it, not to leave it at home.
Our Walks4all takeaway: stop if you need to text or read, and finish calls before crossing a road. Keep your phone charged and in your pocket for emergencies.
And mistake 9: treating walking as the whole job.
First, strength. Across 121 trials in older people, strength training brought large gains and made it easier to rise from a chair, with two sessions a week working best, and strength work was linked to a 10 to 17 per cent lower risk of death. Then balance.
Across 108 trials, exercise cut falls by about 23 per cent, with balance and functional exercise doing best and walking-only programmes uncertain.
Two more reviews found more balance work cut falls further, and cut falls that break bones by about 60 per cent.
Next, your bones.
Walking at least four hours a week went with about 40 per cent fewer hip fractures than under an hour, in women and in men over 50.
But for bone density, the guidance favours strength and impact work, and two trials bear it out: up to 50 hops a day raised hip density in older men, and strength and impact training raised spine density in women with low bone mass.
And your knees.
Across 139 trials in knee osteoarthritis, exercise eased pain, with walking at least as good as thigh exercises. Other studies found more walking wasn't linked to more knee replacements, walking for exercise went with less knee pain, and knee-loading exercise didn't damage cartilage.
The catch: the strength and longer-life link is observational, and the knee evidence is low to moderate in certainty.
Impact work isn't for everyone: three men dropped out of the hopping study with discomfort, and in women with fragile bones,a brisk walking programme raised bone density a little but led to more falls.
With osteoporosis or a past fracture, get advice first, and get a knee that is very painful, badly swollen or giving way checked.
Our Walks4all takeaway: add strength and balance exercises twice a week, with a little impact if your bones allow. And keep walking: it's good for your knees.
Time for a quick-fire round: five things you may have heard about getting older.
Your metabolism slows in middle age?
Adjusted for body size, energy use held steady from 20 to 60, then dipped by less than 1 per cent a year, and a second group put the turning point nearer 52.
Both compared different people at different ages, though.
Losing 1 to 2 per cent of your muscle a year after 50?
Nearer half a per cent, faster after 75.
Strength falls faster than size, but strength training can rebuild it.
Building muscle burns lots of calories?
Two extra kilos of muscle burns roughly a third of a digestive biscuit a day.
Muscle matters for strength and balance, not as a calorie furnace.
A drink after every walk?
Not after a short, easy one: drink to thirst. On long or warm walks, carry water and drink before you feel thirsty: older people feel less thirsty in the heat, and from about 40 the body sheds heat less well.
And rest days?
Walking has one of the lowest injury rates of any activity, and walking more didn't raise walkers' injury risk. Rest makes sense after hard training, or when something hurts.
So what does it all add up to?
Make every walk count, walk part of most walks briskly, let your arms swing, start easy instead of stretching, look a few steps ahead, give yourself time, wear grippy shoes that fasten, stop to use your phone, and add strength and balance twice a week.
Each one is small enough to try on your next walk.
Every study and every reference is in our article, and the link's in the description below, or scan the code on the screen now.
If you know someone this could help, please share it with them. And if you've found this useful, please give us a like, as it helps spread the word, and subscribe to our channel for full-length video walks and more wellness updates.
This video is general information, not medical advice.
If you're new to walking, have a health condition, are pregnant, or are returning after illness or injury, please speak to your GP first. And if walking brings on chest pain, severe breathlessness or dizziness, stop straight away and get medical help.
If chest pain doesn't go away, call 999 in the UK, 911 in the US, or your local emergency number.
In the transcript of the video, when any mention is made of the 'description below', it refers to the description shown beneath the video on YouTube. If you wish to access any of that information, click 'watch on YouTube' on the video above, and the description will be there, on YouTube, just below the video.
