Timed walk · your log

Time a 4-metre walk. Keep the log. Watch the trend.

This is the standard usual-pace walk that clinicians use. The stopwatch is on this page. Each result is kept in this browser only, so you can see whether walking speed is holding or slipping and bring the numbers to a clinician. No account. Nothing is uploaded.

Start the timed walk
About five minutes, two people

Set up and time the walk

One person walks. A helper holds the phone and times it. Use the walking aid you normally use. If balance is uncertain, the helper walks just behind and to the side.

Mark the course

On a level, clear floor: 1 metre to get going, then 4 metres that are timed, then 1 metre to slow down. Tape or two objects mark the start and the 4-metre line.

Usual pace

Walk the way you normally walk, not fast, not slow. Start behind the run-up and keep going past the 4-metre line.

Helper taps

Tap Start at the first footfall past the start line. Tap Stop at the first footfall past the 4-metre line.

Twice

Rest, then walk it again. The faster of the two counts, as in the NIA physical performance battery.

0.00 s
    Kept in this browser only

    Your walking-speed log

    Each saved walk stays in this browser on healthgait.com. It is not sent anywhere, it is not on your other devices, and clearing this site's data erases it. Timed walks from the calculator on the HealthGait homepage appear here too.

    No timed walks saved yet. Time a walk above and save it, then repeat every month or so. One test is a snapshot; the trend is the signal.

    Read this before the number

    What this number is, and what it is not

    It is

    • Your usual walking speed over 4 metres, in metres per second, from a stopwatch a person pressed.
    • A number that tracks health in large studies: across 34,485 adults 65 and older, each 0.1 m/s faster went with about 12% lower risk of death, with no single cutoff (Studenski, JAMA 2011).
    • Worth watching over time: a change of about 0.05 m/s is a small meaningful change, and about 0.10 m/s is substantial (Perera, 2006).
    • A reason to talk to a clinician if it is under 0.8 m/s (more than 5 seconds for 4 metres), which BC's frailty guidance flags for clinical review.

    It is not

    • A diagnosis, a fall prediction for one person, or a measure of fitness for a specific activity.
    • Exact. Hand timing, the course, shoes, and the day all move it a little. Compare like with like: same course, same shoes, same helper.
    • A replacement for a clinician's gait and balance exam, or for a medication and vision review.
    • Sent to anyone. It stays in this browser unless you choose to carry it to another site.
    Get care promptly, do not wait for a trend: a sudden change in how someone walks, new weakness or numbness on one side, chest pain, dizziness or fainting, or a fall with injury. Call 911 for an emergency. If you or the person you care for is in emotional crisis, call or text 988.
    Where to go next

    A walk is one signal

    Fall-risk checklistfallrisks.com covers what a walk cannot see: medications, vision, the home. Six months of data you already haveThe Gait Check reads walking speed from an Apple Health export, on your device. Keep a family filecomfortcard.org keeps a family's health notes on your device.
    1. Studenski S, et al. Gait speed and survival in older adults. JAMA 2011;305(1):50-8. PubMed (checked 2026-09-29)
    2. Perera S, et al. Meaningful change and responsiveness in common physical performance measures in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 2006;54(5):743-9. PubMed (checked 2026-09-29)
    3. BC Guidelines. Frailty in Older Adults: Gait Speed Test (4-metre), 2017. PDF (checked 2026-09-29)
    4. NIA Short Physical Performance Battery protocol: two usual-pace walks, the faster counts. Score tool (checked 2026-09-29)