"What we found is that older adults who regularly participate in high aerobic activities -- running in particular -- have what we call a lower metabolic cost of walking than older, sedentary adults," ustus Ortega, professor of Kinesiology at Humboldt State and one of the study's authors, said in a press release last week. "In fact, their metabolic cost of walking is similar to young adults in their 20s."

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The research was conducted with self-reported older joggers and self-reported walkers, said Ortega, who is also the director of Humboldt's biomechanics laboratory. The participants were asked to walk on a treadmill at three speeds, each increasingly faster, while the scientists measured their oxygen intake and carbon dioxide output. The older joggers, they found, were seven to 10 percent more efficient at walking than the older walkers.

The study's researchers admit they aren't really sure why this is the case, but said other studies have revealed that runners in general have healthier mitochondria, the organelles that act as the power plants every cell of every muscle and tissue in the human body.

The importance of the findings, they added, is that a decline in walking ability "is a key predictor of morbidity in older adults." (The study was published online last week in the journal PLOS ONE.)

The next step, said Ortega, was for his team to investigate whether other highly aerobic exercises, such as swimming and bicycling, will also turn back the clock on walking for senior citizens.