The Sixth Vital Sign

Your walking speed
is a vital sign.
Do you know yours?

In a 2011 JAMA study of 34,485 adults 65+, walking speed tracked survival: each 0.1 m/s faster was linked to about 12% lower mortality, and speeds of 1.0 m/s or more to better-than-expected life expectancy (Studenski et al., JAMA 2011). Most people have never measured theirs. Time a short walk in your kitchen right now.

Measure my walking speed

No account. Nothing to buy. Each walk is kept in this browser only.

Clinician or care team? A clinician-review path is in design and not live; nothing is billed through this site. Practices that want remote-monitoring tools: JointCoach. The surgeon side: SurgeonValue →

A timed 4-metre walkIllustrative example
1 m run-up4 m timed1 m slow-down
4 m ÷ 4.30 s = 0.93 m/s
0.8 m/s: talk to a clinician
(BC frailty guidance, 2017) 1.0 m/s
(Studenski, JAMA 2011) 01.6 m/s 0.93 m/s

Take it with you, only if you press

Family file (comfortcard.org)Fall-risk checklist (fallrisks.com)Doctor-visit sheet (fallprevention.help)
Sample only. Your own number appears after you time a walk. Time a walk on /speed

HealthGait in 15 seconds

Text version:
  1. Walking speed is a vital sign. Most people have never measured theirs.
  2. Speed tracks survival. 34,485 adults 65+. Studenski, JAMA 2011.
  3. Walk with your phone for 20 seconds. Cadence, steadiness, symmetry. Nothing uploaded.
  4. Or read your six-month trend. From your phone's own data. Nothing stored.
  5. HealthGait. Walking speed, the sixth vital sign. healthgait.com
Take it yourself

Time a walk, then calculate

In adults 65 and over, slower walking speed tracked shorter survival (Studenski, JAMA 2011). Here is how to time yours in your kitchen, right now.

How to measure

  1. 1

    Mark a 4-metre (13-foot) path on a flat, unobstructed floor. Add 1 metre at each end to speed up and to slow down (BC Guidelines 2017).

  2. 2

    Walk at your comfortable, everyday pace — not fast, not slow. Use any walking aid you normally use.

  3. 3

    A helper starts a stopwatch when your lead foot crosses the start line and stops it when it crosses the finish.

  4. 4

    Walk it twice and enter the faster time in the calculator (the NIA Short Physical Performance Battery counts the faster of two trials). Or use the stopwatch page, which does both trials and keeps a log.

Your gait speed

meters
seconds
Use the on-page stopwatch and see your log and trend →

Reference labels used on this page: <0.6 / 0.6–1.0 / 1.0–1.2 / >1.2 m/s (Fritz & Lusardi 2009; Studenski 2011). Under 0.8 m/s on a 4-metre walk is flagged for clinical review (BC Guidelines 2017). A screening signal, not a diagnosis.

directions_walk

Measure it right now

20-second phone walk test

Walk with your phone for twenty seconds; its motion sensor reads your cadence, steadiness, and left/right symmetry — entirely on your device, nothing uploaded.

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chair

Add a second self-test

30-second sit-to-stand

Your phone counts each stand automatically and scores your lower-body strength against age and sex norms. Walking speed and leg strength together draw the fuller mobility picture.

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New — no stopwatch needed

Your iPhone has been measuring your gait for years.
Read it in one minute.

Export your Apple Health data, drop it on the Gait Check, and see your walking speed, steadiness, and 6-month trend — with an early flag if it's slipping. Computed entirely on your device. Nothing uploads, nothing is stored.

Run the Gait Check arrow_forward

The method behind every number is published in the open — cited thresholds, the exact formula, honest limits. Or see how the AirPods, iPhone & Watch you already wear can become one gait signal.

Less data. More done.

Not a dashboard. One number, one action.

A number you glance at and ignore is a design failure, not a health tool. Your gait number is one signal with one next step — across three doors:

Step 1 · fallrisks.com
See it coming

A 3-minute STEADI screener puts a number on the risk you can’t feel yet — the reframe from fear to agency.

Start there →
Step 2 · healthgait.com · you’re here
Know your number

The sixth vital sign, read from the phone in your pocket — one number, one trend, on-device. Not 200 metrics you ignore.

Run the Gait Check →
Step 3 · motionsole.com
Act on it

See your gait live on camera, with the method published in the open. A clinician-review path is in design; nothing is billed.

The platform →
Beyond the number

A timed walk is a snapshot.
Shoes and stride are the next question.

Your iPhone also reports Walking Steadiness, Apple's own balance measure, and the Gait Check shows it when it is in your export. MotionSole is where the gait method behind these numbers is published in the open, and where shoes and stride are covered.

See MotionSole arrow_forward

The Sixth Vital Sign

Clinical Insight

Walking Speed vs. Longevity

In a 2011 JAMA study of 34,485 adults 65 and over, walking speed tracked survival alongside age, sex and chronic conditions (Studenski et al.). It reflects several body systems at once: nerves, muscles, joints, heart and lungs.

1.2 m/s The top band below · test yours
34,485 Adults Studied (JAMA 2011) · source
analytics

Real-time Metrics

Your phone's motion sensor reads cadence, steadiness, and left/right symmetry in a 20-second walk.

Try the phone walk testarrow_forward
A person walking on a concrete surface

A cited method, not a black box.

HealthGait reads the walking data your phone already collects using a published, cited method. The trend over weeks and months — not any single reading — is what you and your clinician act on.

Reading raw motion is becoming a commodity — open models like Inertia-1 (UCLA / Duke / Johns Hopkins, 2026) turn wearable accelerometry into health signal at no cost. That is exactly why the durable part isn't the reading — it's the cited method and the clinician who acts on the trend.

The same rule holds for recovery: a wearable "readiness" score is a product feature, not a biomarker — watch your raw baseline, not the grade.

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    Trend Over Snapshot

    One reading is a data point; a 90-day trend is a signal worth acting on.

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    Built for the Handoff

    Every report cites its method and sources — the same one you print for a physician or physical therapist.

health_and_safety Apple Health

Your watch already knows.
Bring it to your clinician.

If you wear an Apple Watch or carry an iPhone, Apple Health already holds your walking speed, steadiness, asymmetry, double support time and step length. Export it, drop it on the Gait Check, and read a 90-day trend you can print for your own clinician. HealthGait is independent of Apple and reads only the export you choose, on your device.

ios_share
Export from Health
Profile picture, then Export All Health Data
lock
Read it on your device
The file is not uploaded and nothing is stored
print
Print the cited trend
For a physician or physical therapist
Run the Gait Check

Clinician review of a trend is in design. It is not live, and nothing is billed through this site.

Studenski et al. JAMA 2011

What your walking speed actually predicts

The landmark Studenski study pooled data from 34,485 community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older across 9 cohorts. Walking speed tracked survival alongside age, sex and chronic conditions. Here is what the zones mean in practice. Not medical advice; share your score with your clinician.

Speed
Clinical Zone
What the evidence says
< 0.6 m/s
Frailty zone
The <0.6 m/s band is from Fritz & Lusardi (2009); Studenski found a continuous gradient with no cutoff, with predicted 10-year survival at age 75 as low as 19% (men) and 35% (women) at the slowest speeds studied. Linked to fall risk, hospitalization, and loss of community ambulation. Targeted strength and balance training can improve gait speed within 8–12 weeks.
0.6 – 1.0 m/s
Limited mobility
Independent walking indoors, but community ambulation (crossing a timed intersection, managing inclines, stairs under load) may be compromised. The 0.8 m/s mark corresponds to median life expectancy for most ages in the Studenski cohorts.
1.0 – 1.2 m/s
Preserved function
Full community mobility. Consistent survival advantage over the limited-mobility group. At 1.0 m/s or above, 10-year survival in the Studenski cohorts ranged from 57% to 91% depending on age and sex — substantially better than below this threshold.
> 1.2 m/s
Robust
The fastest speeds in the Studenski cohorts tracked the highest survival. At this speed, the additional clinical value shifts to symmetry, cadence consistency, and step-length trends — the metrics Apple Watch captures passively that a timed walk test cannot.
info

Thresholds above are derived from Studenski et al., JAMA 2011, which measured comfortable walking speed on a 4-meter course. Apple Watch measures walking speed passively during normal daily walking; values are comparable but not identical to a standardized 4-meter test. Walking speed is a population-level predictor, not a diagnostic test — a single low reading does not predict individual outcomes. Use these ranges to start a conversation with your clinician, not to draw a conclusion. Not medical advice.

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Where this comes from

Every number on this site has a named source: Studenski 2011, Perera 2006, BC Guidelines 2017, the NIA SPPB, CDC STEADI, USPSTF 2024. See the sources and what each is used for. General education, not medical advice.

For clinicians and care teams

What a patient can bring you, and where the rest lives. HealthGait bills nothing.

What a patient can bring you

A printed, cited trend from the Gait Check (walking speed, steadiness, asymmetry, double support time and step length from their own Apple Health export), or a timed-walk log from /speed with the 0.8 m/s reference line (BC Guidelines 2017) and change labels (0.05 m/s small, 0.10 m/s substantial; Perera 2006). The log and the export stay on the patient's device.

It is a screening signal, not a diagnosis. HealthGait is not connected to any EHR. A clinician-review path, where AI drafts a trend summary and a licensed clinician reviews it and signs or strikes it, is in design and not live.

Remote monitoring and joint replacement live elsewhere

A practice that wants remote-monitoring tools for its own clinicians can start at JointCoach. The surgeon side of the 90-day joint-replacement episode (CJR-X), with the rule, the dates and the sources, is at surgeonvalue.com/cjr-x. Billing rules are the practice's own decision under its payer's rules and are not summarised here.

For a family that needs company on walks

The co-op.care time bank is a place where neighbours trade hours of help, such as a visit, a ride or an errand. Families coordinating care for a parent can also start at CaresCircle.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is walking speed and why does it matter? add
Walking speed is called the sixth vital sign. In a 2011 JAMA study of 34,485 adults 65 and over, it tracked survival alongside age, sex and chronic conditions, along a continuous gradient with no single cutoff; speeds of 1.0 m/s or more went with better-than-expected survival. It reflects several body systems at once: nerves, muscles, joints, heart and lungs. It is a population-level signal, not a guarantee for one person.
How do I measure it at home? add
Use the timed-walk page, healthgait.com/speed. Mark a 4-metre path on a flat floor with 1 metre to speed up and 1 metre to slow down, and walk at your usual pace. Do two trials and the faster one counts. The BC Guidelines (Frailty in Older Adults, 2017) flag a 4-metre walk slower than 0.8 m/s, which is more than 5 seconds, for clinical review. A stopwatch and a helper are enough; the page has a stopwatch and keeps a log.
Is anything uploaded or stored? add
There is no account. The timed-walk log, the walk test, the sit-to-stand test and the Gait Check run in your browser, and the log stays in this browser on your device, with a delete button on every entry. Clearing site data erases it. Only two things leave the device, and only when you press a button: the email box at the foot of the home page, and a Take this with you link that carries one number and one label to a site you choose, in the part of the link after the #, which browsers do not send to a server.
What should I do about a slow number? add
A slower time is information, not a verdict. Print the trend and bring it to your own clinician or physical therapist. Exercise to prevent falls has a USPSTF Grade B recommendation for adults 65 and older at increased risk (JAMA 2024). Get care promptly, without waiting for a trend, for a sudden change in how you walk, new weakness or numbness on one side, chest pain, dizziness or fainting, or a fall with injury. Call 911 for an emergency, and 988 if you are in crisis.
What does the Gait Check read from Apple Health? add
Walking speed, Walking Steadiness, walking asymmetry, double support time and step length, from an Apple Health export that you choose, on your device. It averages speed per day, takes the last 14 days as your number, and fits a 90-day trend. HealthGait is independent of Apple and reads nothing from Health directly.
Does HealthGait bill, or connect to an EHR? add
No. Nothing is billed through this site and it is not connected to any EHR. A clinician-review path, where AI drafts a trend summary and a licensed clinician reviews it and signs or strikes it, is in design and not live. Whether a practice bills for remote monitoring is its own decision under its payer's rules.
How does HealthGait connect to FallRisks? add
FallRisks is a 12-question checklist from the CDC (Stay Independent) about falls, medicines, vision and the home. HealthGait gives the measured walking speed. If you press a button, either site can carry its result to the other as a number and a label in the link, and nothing is stored.
How is HealthGait different from a clinical gait lab? add
A clinical gait lab uses instruments such as force plates and motion capture and reads detail that a phone cannot. HealthGait reads walking speed and a few related signals from a stopwatch, a phone or your Apple Health data, so it can show a trend over months. It is a screening signal, not a diagnosis.
CDC STEADI · Clinical Reference

Timed Up and Go Test: what your time means

The TUG test measures functional mobility — how long it takes to stand from a chair, walk 3 meters, turn, and return. It is the primary objective fall-risk screening test in the CDC STEADI program and correlates directly with gait speed. Conduct it twice; use the better time.

Podsiadlo D & Richardson S, J Am Geriatr Soc 1991 · CDC STEADI Algorithm 2024

TUG Time
Interpretation
Clinical action
< 12 s
Normal mobility. Community-independent ambulation. The TUG time alone does not point to higher fall risk.
Keep walking daily. Time it again once a year, or sooner if something changes.
12–20 s
Worth a conversation. CDC STEADI uses 12 s as its screening threshold. Getting around may be harder than it was.
Ask your clinician about balance and strength training, a medicine review, a home check and a physical therapy visit. Exercise to prevent falls carries a USPSTF Grade B recommendation for adults 65 and older at increased risk (JAMA, 2024).
> 20 s
Slower than the usual range. Mobility is clearly limited, and a clinician should look at it.
Book a visit soon so a clinician can check strength, balance, medicines and the home. Bring this time with you.

TUG vs gait speed — what each captures

Gait speed (10MWT / HealthGait): pure walking velocity on a straight path. The sixth vital sign. Best for longitudinal trend tracking. Normal: > 1.0 m/s.
TUG test: composite of sit-to-stand, walking, turning, and sitting back — a functional mobility circuit. Captures transfer ability and turning gait, which gait speed alone misses. Normal: < 12 s.

A slower time is information, not a verdict. Gait speed is one of the most modifiable vital signs there is — progressive strength and balance work measurably raises it, and gait speed that improves tracks with better survival, not only gait speed that starts high (Hardy, JAGS 2007; Studenski, JAMA 2011). Your number tells you where to start, not where you end.

Sources: Podsiadlo & Richardson, J Am Geriatr Soc 1991; CDC STEADI Algorithm 2024; Bohannon RW, J Geriatr Phys Ther 2006. Not a substitute for clinical evaluation.

Where to go next

Pick by what you need next. Your number can travel with you by a button press, as a number and a label in the link.

FallRisks: a 12-question fall checklist A one-page sheet for the doctor visit ComfortCard: keep it in your family file MotionSole: shoes and stride ArthritisRisk: joint pain with a lopsided walk co-op.care time bank: someone to walk with

Where the numbers come from. Not a substitute for medical advice. In an emergency call 911; in crisis, 988.

Hear when there is a new test

Leave an email and we will write when HealthGait adds a test or changes a number. It goes to us only when you press the button. Nothing from a walk or a check is sent.