There is something I see repeatedly in my work, and it continues to concern me.

People in their 60s, 70s and 80s come to me genuinely convinced that they are doing enough physical activity to remain healthy.

When I ask what they do, the answer is often:

“I walk.”

Sometimes they add:

“My doctor told me I need to walk more.”

And I want to make something absolutely clear from the beginning:

Walking is excellent.

I want people to walk.

Walking is infinitely better than spending hours sitting down. It can support cardiovascular and metabolic health, increase daily energy expenditure, improve mood, provide social interaction and give us valuable time outdoors and in nature.

For someone who is very sedentary, starting to walk regularly can represent an enormously positive change.

The problem is not walking.

The problem is believing that walking, by itself, satisfies all the movement needs of the human body.

It does not.

What I Discover When We Actually Assess Physical Capacity

At Empowered Ageing, we do not simply ask:

“How many minutes do you walk each week?”

We try to understand something much broader:

“What can this body still do?”

And this is where, sometimes, the reality is very different from the person's perception of their own physical condition.

I regularly meet people who walk almost every day but who:

• cannot perform even an adapted push-up with good control;
• find it extremely difficult to get up from the floor;
• can no longer squat comfortably;
• use only a limited range of movement through their knees and hips;
• have lost a significant amount of shoulder mobility;
• struggle to balance on one leg;
• have poor grip strength;
• have limited ability to push or pull;
• have lost muscular power;
• struggle with coordination;
• react slowly when something unexpected happens;
• find rapid changes of direction difficult;
• avoid certain movements because they no longer trust their own body.

And yet, many of these people believed that they were physically fit because they walked regularly.

This is where we need to distinguish between two very different things:

being active and being physically capable.

A person can walk every day while progressively losing physical abilities that are fundamental to independence.

The Human Body Needs Much More Than Walking

Think for a moment about how many physical abilities are required to live independently.

We need strength to rise from a chair.

We need power to move quickly when climbing a step or recovering from a loss of balance.

We need hip mobility to squat and reach towards the ground.

We need shoulder mobility to reach for something above our head.

We need upper-body strength to push open a heavy door, carry objects or help ourselves move from one position to another.

We need balance to stand on one leg while putting on trousers.

We need coordination and agility to respond to an unexpected obstacle.

We need reaction speed and muscular force when we stumble and have only a fraction of a second to prevent a loss of balance from becoming a fall.

We need upper-body strength and coordination when our arms are involved in a protective reaction during a forward fall. Strength cannot guarantee that a fracture will be prevented — many factors determine injury — but having greater physical capacity gives the body more options for controlling and absorbing forces.

We also need to learn and practise how to position and use the body more effectively when a fall cannot be avoided. Safe-landing skills, like other motor skills, require practice before they can become more automatic.

We need stability when the ground is uneven.

We need trunk rotation to look behind us.

We need grip strength to carry objects safely.

We need the ability to get down onto the floor — and, perhaps even more importantly, to get back up again.

And many of us want enough energy, strength, mobility and agility to play with our grandchildren, get onto the floor with them, run after them, explore with them and genuinely participate in their world rather than simply watching from a chair.

Walking does not sufficiently challenge many of these capacities.

And capacities that we stop using tend, over time, to decline.

Walking Trains Some Things. It Does Not Train Everything.

During normal walking on relatively flat ground, the body repeats a broadly similar movement pattern thousands of times.

That can be extremely valuable for aerobic fitness and general activity.

But many joints are working through only part of their available movement range.

The knees bend and straighten, but normal walking does not take them anywhere near the ranges required for a deep squat or many floor-based movements.

The hips also move through a relatively limited range compared with what they are capable of doing.

The shoulders are not meaningfully loaded.

The arms mainly swing backwards and forwards rather than push, pull or support the body against significant resistance.

The trunk does not normally explore large ranges of rotation.

There is little demand for substantial upper-body strength.

Comfortable walking provides limited stimulus for developing the ability to produce force quickly.

It does not practise getting down to and rising from the floor.

It does not expose us to the wide variety of balance challenges that real life may present.

And a comfortable walk is unlikely, by itself, to provide the progressive overload required to maintain or substantially improve whole-body muscular strength.

That matters enormously as we grow older.

Strength Is Not Just About Having Bigger Muscles

Strength is one of the most important physical qualities we can preserve as we age.

Progressive resistance training can help older adults maintain or improve muscle strength and muscle mass, support physical function and mobility, and preserve the capacity required for everyday activities.

Strength contributes to our ability to:

• rise from a chair;
• climb stairs;
• carry shopping;
• push and pull;
• walk with greater confidence;
• maintain posture and joint stability;
• perform daily activities independently;
• produce force when balance is suddenly disturbed;
• preserve mobility and functional capacity;
• support bone health when the training stimulus is appropriate;
• maintain the physical reserve needed when illness or inactivity temporarily reduces our capacity.

Research in older adults consistently shows that resistance training can improve strength and several measures of physical function, including aspects of walking capacity and lower-body functional performance. [5]

Strength is therefore not a bodybuilding issue.

It is an independence issue.

This does not mean that walking does not use the muscles of the legs.

Of course it does.

And for someone who is extremely deconditioned, simply beginning to walk — particularly uphill or on stairs — may initially improve muscular capacity.

But that is very different from a progressive strengthening programme that systematically challenges the major muscle groups throughout the whole body.

Think About What Happens When We Stumble

There is another physical ability that is frequently forgotten:

the ability to react.

A fall is rarely slow and predictable.

We trip.

We slip.

Our foot catches on something.

Someone bumps into us.

The surface beneath us changes unexpectedly.

Our brain may have only fractions of a second to recognise what has happened, and the neuromuscular system has to produce an appropriate response quickly enough.

That response can involve:

• vision;
• the vestibular system;
• proprioception;
• coordination;
• reactive balance;
• reaction speed;
• muscular strength;
• muscular power;
• spatial awareness;
• rapid changes in foot position;
• and appropriate protective responses.

Ordinary walking provides useful locomotor practice.

But it does not come close to fully training all of these responses.

The same principle applies to the upper body.

If someone loses balance forwards, the arms may become part of a natural protective response. Having strength, coordination and the capacity to tolerate and control load through the arms and shoulders can form part of a more physically prepared body.

This does not mean that being able to do push-ups will prevent a fracture.

It means something much more reasonable:

A stronger, better-coordinated and better-prepared body has more physical resources available when something unexpected happens.

The Guidelines Themselves Tell Us That Walking Is Not Enough

This is not simply my personal opinion as a coach.

International physical activity guidelines make this remarkably clear.

The World Health Organization recommends regular aerobic physical activity for adults alongside muscle-strengthening activity involving the major muscle groups. For older adults, it also recommends multicomponent physical activity that emphasises functional balance and strength, particularly to help preserve physical function and reduce fall risk. [1]

The UK Chief Medical Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that older adults participate in daily physical activity and specifically include activities that maintain or improve muscle strength, balance and flexibility, alongside aerobic activity. [2]

The current Australian recommendations for adults aged 65 and over distinguish between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, muscle-strengthening activity and functional activities targeting mobility, balance and coordination. [3]

And the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention similarly recommends that adults aged 65 and over include aerobic activity, muscle-strengthening activity and balance work each week. [4]

The details vary slightly between countries.

The message does not:

Healthy movement is not just walking.

In fact, the UK guidance makes a particularly important point: an older person may already be active through regular walking, yet gain significant additional benefits by adding activities specifically designed to improve strength, balance and flexibility. [2]

That is exactly the distinction we need to understand.

“Walk More” Can Be an Excellent Beginning. It Should Not Necessarily Be the Destination.

It is also important to be fair to healthcare professionals.

When a doctor says to a sedentary person:

“You need to walk more,”

that recommendation may make perfect sense.

Walking is simple.

It is accessible.

It is inexpensive.

It requires little equipment.

Most people can begin immediately.

And for someone who is completely sedentary, it may represent a major improvement.

There are also people with particular health conditions, physical limitations or very low levels of fitness for whom a simple walking programme may be exactly the appropriate place to start.

The problem appears when the message becomes — or is understood as:

“Walking is all you need to keep your body physically healthy.”

That is a very different statement.

And this is where I believe we need better movement education — both for the general public and for professionals advising older adults.

Because what someone needs at 60, 70 or 80 is not simply a heart capable of walking for 30 minutes.

They need a body capable of living.

We Need to Train Capacities, Not Simply Accumulate Minutes

There is a shift in thinking that I believe is fundamental.

Instead of asking only:

“How much exercise did I do this week?”

we should also ask:

“Which physical capacities am I preserving?”

Strength?

Power?

Balance?

Mobility?

Coordination?

Agility?

Endurance?

Reaction?

Carrying?

Pushing?

Pulling?

Rotating?

Squatting?

Climbing?

Descending?

Getting down to the floor?

Getting back up again?

These capacities collectively support our physical freedom.

That is why movement for healthy ageing needs to be multidimensional.

Ageing Does Not Remove the Need for Movement Variety. It Makes It More Important.

There is an interesting irony.

As children, we move in countless different ways.

We run.

We jump.

We crawl.

We rotate.

We fall.

We get back up.

We hang.

We push.

We pull.

We change direction.

We sit on the floor.

We get up again — hundreds of times.

Then we become adults.

We sit in chairs.

We drive.

We use lifts.

We work at desks.

We spend hours looking at screens.

And gradually, we reduce the enormous movement vocabulary our bodies once possessed.

By the time many people reach their 60s or 70s, they may be using only a small fraction of that vocabulary.

And then we tell them:

“Walk.”

But the ageing body does not need even less movement variety.

Within each individual's health status, abilities and limitations, it needs opportunities to preserve — and sometimes rediscover — more ways of moving.

Walking Should Be Part of the Solution

I do not want anyone to finish this article thinking:

“So walking is not important.”

It is.

Keep walking.

Walk regularly.

When appropriate, walk at an intensity that moderately challenges your cardiovascular system.

Walk uphill sometimes.

Explore different surfaces when it is safe to do so.

Walk in nature.

Walk with friends.

Use walking as part of your healthy lifestyle.

But do not stop there.

Add strength.

Add mobility.

Add balance.

Add coordination.

Move in different directions.

When appropriate, add power and reaction challenges.

Allow your joints to explore ranges of movement that everyday life may no longer require from them.

Practise getting down to the floor and getting back up.

Keep learning new movements.

And above all:

Train the physical abilities you would like to still possess 10, 20 or 30 years from now.

We Do Not Simply Want People Who Can Walk. We Want People Who Are Capable.

For me, this is one of the fundamental goals of movement as we age.

We are not simply trying to increase the number of steps recorded on a watch.

We are trying to preserve freedom.

The freedom to travel.

To play with our grandchildren.

To work in the garden.

To carry shopping.

To climb stairs.

To sit on the floor.

To stand back up.

To react to a stumble.

To explore.

To learn new movements.

To remain independent.

To continue trusting our own body.

So when someone tells me:

“I exercise. I walk every day.”

my response is not:

“Stop walking.”

Quite the opposite.

Keep walking.

But understand that walking is only one part of what your body needs.

Walking is movement.

But healthy movement is much more than walking.

A Final Message to Healthcare Professionals

Perhaps it is also time to change the language slightly.

Instead of saying only:

“You need to walk more.”

perhaps we can begin saying:

“You need to move more — and that includes walking, but also maintaining strength, balance, mobility and functional capacity.”

That small change in language can completely change what someone understands about caring for their body.

And when we are talking about ageing, that difference may contribute to additional years of independence, confidence, participation and quality of life.

Because the goal should never be simply to help people remain alive.

The goal is to help them remain capable of living their life.

Arlindo Martins
Healthy Ageing Movement Coach
Founder, Empowered Ageing

Empowered Ageing — training the body not simply to live longer, but to remain capable for longer.

Scientific References

1. World Health Organization. WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.

2. UK Chief Medical Officers. UK Chief Medical Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines. Updated guidance for adults and older adults. UK Government.

3. Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. 24-Hour Movement Guidelines — Recommendations for Older Adults (65 Years and Over). Updated 2026.

4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Older Adult Activity: An Overview. Physical Activity Basics. Updated December 2025.

5. Liu C-J, Latham NK, et al. / Related systematic-review evidence. Research on progressive resistance training in older adults demonstrates improvements in muscular strength and important measures of physical and functional capacity. See also contemporary systematic reviews examining resistance training, mobility and functional performance in older adults.

Educational note: This article provides general information about movement and healthy ageing and is not a substitute for individual medical assessment or personalised exercise prescription. People with health conditions, significant pain, recent injury or substantial functional limitations should seek appropriate professional guidance before beginning or substantially changing an exercise programme.