The Sixth Vital Sign

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

Time a 4-metre walk in your kitchen. This page works out your speed.

Measure my walking speed

No account. Nothing to buy. Kept on this phone only.

Each 0.1 m/s faster was linked to about 12% lower mortality in 34,485 adults 65 and over (Studenski, JAMA 2011).

For family and clinicians

Between checks: daily moves, the CDC chair-rise exercise. Works with no signal.

Checking on a parent or partner? The monthly check keeps each month’s walk and sit-to-stand, and prints one page for the doctor. Phone and watch together: your walking over time.

Clinicians: remote monitoring is on JointCoach; the surgeon side is 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) 0 m/s 1.6 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. Motion data never 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.

Measure it right now

20-second phone walk test

Walk with your phone for twenty seconds; its motion sensor counts your steps per minute and gives a rough read of step timing, entirely on your device; the readings are never uploaded.

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.
The Gait Check · reads Apple Health on your device

Your iPhone logs your walking speed in Mobility.
Read the 6-month trend on one page.

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. Your data never uploads and is not stored.

Run the Gait Check Or time a 4-metre walk →

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 walking speed is one measured 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 — and can hand that result straight here.

Start there →
Step 2 · healthgait.com · you’re here
Time a 4-metre walk

Two trials at usual pace (faster counts), compared against the 0.8 m/s BC Guidelines line and saved in this browser — or read 6 months of iPhone data on /check.

Time a 4-metre walk →
Step 3 · motionsole.com
Act on it

See your gait live on camera, with the method published in the open.

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

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

Real-time Metrics

Your phone's motion sensor counts your steps per minute in a 20-second walk. Its step-timing readings are rough estimates.

Try the phone walk test

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.

  • Trend Over Snapshot

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

  • Built for the Handoff

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

Apple Health

Your iPhone already records it.
Bring the trend to your clinician.

If you carry an iPhone (8 or later) in a pocket or near your waist, Apple Health already records 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.

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

Nothing is billed through this site. Print the trend and bring it to your own clinician.

Studenski et al. JAMA 2011 · Fritz & Lusardi 2009

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 clinical zones (Fritz & Lusardi, 2009; BC Guidelines, 2017) 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. Targeted strength and balance training (USPSTF Grade B) can help improve walking speed.
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 (Fritz & Lusardi, 2009). BC Guidelines (2017) flag speeds below 0.8 m/s (over 5 seconds for 4 metres) for clinical review, and 0.8 m/s corresponds to median life expectancy for most ages in the Studenski cohorts.
1.0 – 1.2 m/s
Preserved function
Full community mobility (Fritz & Lusardi, 2009). In Studenski et al. (JAMA 2011), survival rose continuously across the entire speed range (pooled hazard ratio 0.88 per +0.1 m/s across 9 cohorts, n=34,485), and speeds of 1.0 m/s or above generally exceeded age- and sex-expected median survival.
> 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 an iPhone (8 or later, carried in a pocket) captures passively across daily walks.

Survival findings above come from Studenski et al., JAMA 2011, which pooled usual-pace timed walks across courses of 8 ft to 6 m (4 m is standard in the NIA SPPB and BC Guidelines 2017); clinical zone cutoffs follow Fritz & Lusardi (2009) and BC Guidelines (2017). An iPhone (8 or later) carried in a pocket estimates walking speed passively during normal daily walking; values are helpful for tracking trends but are not identical to a standardized 4-metre walk test. Walking speed is a population-level predictor, not a diagnostic test — a single low reading does not predict individual outcomes. Not medical advice.

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, or check what you know in 8 questions. General education, not medical advice.

For clinicians and care teams

What a patient can bring you, how on-device gait telemetry works, 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). In orthopaedic trauma cohorts from the University of Maryland (Level III, single-centre associations in iPhone owners), pre-injury daily steps above 5,000, walking asymmetry under 10%, and each 0.1 m/s faster walking speed were associated with discharge home rather than a facility (Marshall, Shear et al., JB JS Open Access 2026), and fracture nonunion was associated with 55% slower step-count recovery (Brodke, Shear et al., JBJS 2025). The log and the export stay on the patient's device. The hand-off is the print-out the patient brings to you: HealthGait sends nothing to a practice and has no clinician inbox.

It is a screening signal, not a diagnosis. HealthGait is not connected to any EHR.

What runs today

The 4-metre timed walk (/speed), the Gait Check (/check), the 20-second phone walk test (/walk-test), the 30-second sit-to-stand (/chair-stand), and the walk, sit-to-stand and CDC balance test in one go (/five-minute-check), and the monthly check for a partner or family caregiver, the last six results with one page for the doctor (/monthly), and CDC’s chair rise exercise with a counter and rest timer (/moves) run in your browser: your results are never uploaded, there is no account, and nothing is billed. No clinician reviews anything through this site.

Joint surgery: two separate sites

JointClass teaches what to expect before and after a knee or hip replacement, including normal, or call now? JointCoach tracks the home exercises after surgery on the phone; a practice bills that as remote therapeutic monitoring with its own clinician (the operating surgeon cannot bill it inside their own global period).

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?
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?
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?
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 you enter 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. Apart from those, this page counts the visit: its path, the referring site, and phone or computer, never a result.
What should I do about a slow number?
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?
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?
No. Nothing is billed through this site and it is not connected to any EHR. No clinician reviews anything through this site; the person brings the print-out to their own clinician. Whether a practice bills for remote monitoring is its own decision under its payer's rules.
How does HealthGait connect to FallRisks?
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?
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.

Check what you know · 8 questions · stays in this browser

Before you time a walk, check that the numbers make sense

Eight questions on the 4-metre walk, the 0.8 m/s reference line, how much change is meaningful, and what passive iPhone data can and cannot tell you. Each one is keyed to a line on this page: tap an answer and the page’s own line appears, with where to re-read it and the source it cites. Nothing is scored as pass or fail, and your answers are never sent.

0 of 8 answered

Time a 4-metre walk →

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 SolvingHealth, the publisher of this site, only when you press the button. Nothing from a walk or a check is sent. Privacy