SEATTLE, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- When men and women walk together, men slow to match the pace of a romantic partner, but when walking with a female friend men slow some, U.S. researchers say.
Cara Wall-Scheffler, a biologist at Seattle Pacific University, and colleagues said the study involved 11 couples, and 14 male and female friends of the pairs -- all ages 18-29 -- to walk several times around a track solo and as couples. People have an optimal walking speed, which minimizes energy expenditure for a given distance, with men tending to have faster optimal walking speeds, the researchers said.