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Study: Married people are healthier, walk faster

Being married makes you walk faster and gives you the ability to hold on tighter. That's according to new research published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Several previous studies have shown that married people tend to be healthier and live longer, but not much was understood about how physical health factored into that.

For this study, researchers focused on two things: walking speed and grip strength. According to the team, walking speed can be a good measure of overall health, and grip strength reflects upper body strength.

From the two previous studies they examined, men who were in their first marriage walked 4 inches faster per second than never-married men.

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For the women, those in their first marriage walked 2 to 3 inches per second faster than unmarried women.

But when it came to grip strength, the difference was only noticeable in men. Men who were in their first marriage or had remarried had stronger grips than their single counterparts.

Hold onto the ones you love and, if you're married, you may be physically able to hold on a little tighter too.