By this point, everyone should have heard that walking is one of the easiest ways to stay active and lower the risks of chronic disease. New research has been building on this, with a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine finding that uninterrupted bouts of 10 to 15 minutes of walking significantly lowers the risk for cardiovascular disease by up to two-thirds compared to shorter strolls.
Continuous Walking Improves Cardiovascular Health
The findings from the researchers at the University of Sydney and Universidad Europea challenge the status quo of taking 10,000 steps a day, showing that quality and consistency of movement matter more than quantity. The report indicates that those who walk less than 8,000 steps a day can still experience major heart health benefits by simply changing how they walk.
The study exploring how walking patterns affected the health of those who are generally inactive found that even when covering the same number of steps, uninterrupted walks provided greater benefits for the heart when compared to scattered strolls throughout the day. Those who took their steps in 1 or 2 continuous 10 to 15-minute sessions benefited from lower rates of stroke, heart attacks, and death.
Steady Walks Can Make a Big Difference
“For the most inactive people, switching from brief walks here and there to longer continuous walks may come with some health benefits,” said Co-lead author Dr. Matthew Ahmadi, Deputy Director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub and member of the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney. “There is a perception that health professionals have recommended walking 10,000 steps a day is the goal, but this isn’t necessary. Simply adding one or two longer walks per day, each lasting at least 10-15 minutes at a comfortable but steady pace, may have significant benefits — especially for people who don’t walk much.”
For this study, 33,560 participants between the ages of 40 and 79 with no history of cancer or cardiovascular disease and who walked less than 8,000 steps a day wore a research-grade wristband for one week to record their step counts and how the steps were distributed. The researchers followed the participants’ health outcomes for 8 years, which revealed striking differences in cardiovascular risks between those who took short strolls and those who took longer walks.
Simple Changes = Big Results
Those preferring to take longer, continuous 10 to 15-minute walks a day were found to have a 4% chance of experiencing a cardiovascular event, compared to those who walked continuously for 5 minutes, having a 13% chance of experiencing a heart attack or stroke.
The benefits were found to be the greatest among those who were the least active, especially for those taking fewer than 5,000 steps a day. Among these participants, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease decreased from 15% among short strollers to 7% among those who walked up to 15 minutes at a time.
Additionally, among those walking less than 5,000 steps a day, the risk of death decreased by 5% for those walking in 5-minute sessions to less than 1% for those taking longer walks.
“We tend to place all the emphasis on the number of steps or the total amount of walking but neglect the crucial role of patterns, for example, ‘how’ walking is done,” said Senior author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub and physical activity theme leader at the Charles Perkins Centre. “This study shows that even people who are very physically inactive can maximize their heart health benefit by tweaking their walking patterns to walk for longer at a time, ideally for at least 10-15 minutes, when possible.”
“Our research shows that simple changes can make all the difference to your health. If you walk a little, set aside some time to walk more often and in longer sessions. Such small changes can have a big impact,” concluded Co-lead author Dr. Borja del Pozo from the Universidad Europea.
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