A lot of people want to walk 10,000 steps every day.
But new research suggests that a less time-consuming option may be better for losing weight.
A study has shown that adding regular 15-minute walks to your day could lower your risk of heart disease and even an early death.
Researchers from Australia and Spain followed the activities of more than 33,000 persons. They found that people who walked for more than 15 minutes at a time had a risk of dying early that was up to 85% lower than people who walked for five minutes at a time.
The researchers said that the data suggested that “small changes to step patterns without big increases in step number” could be very good for heart health.
They added that their results, which were published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, could also assist doctors get their least active patients to walk more or at least do most of their daily steps in a row.
Dr. Matthew Ahmadi, a cardiovascular disease prevention expert at the University of Sydney and one of the study’s authors, stated, “People think that health professionals have said that walking 10,000 steps a day is the goal, but this isn’t true.”
“Adding one or two longer walks to your day, each lasting at least 10–15 minutes at a comfortable but steady pace, could have big benefits, especially for people who don’t walk much.”
Dr. Borja del Pozo, a lifestyle epidemiologist at the European University in Madrid and one of the study’s authors, said, “Our research shows that small changes can have a big impact on your health.”
“Set up some time to walk more often and for longer periods of time if you already walk a little. These little tweaks can make a tremendous difference.
During the study, 33,560 participants wore a research bracelet for a week. The wristband not only counted their steps but also how they were adding them up.
After that, they were put into four groups and their health was watched for an average of eight years.
The first group took most of their walks in short spurts of less than five minutes.
The second group did most of their work in 5 to 10 minutes, and the third group did most of their work in 10 to 15 minutes.
The fourth group, on the other hand, kept track of most of their steps in 15-minute or longer intervals.
The investigators found that the chance of fatality went down as the length of the bout went up.
The researchers said that the data suggested that “small changes to step patterns without big increases in step number” could be very good for heart health.
The researchers said that “small changes to step patterns without big increases in step number” could be very good for heart health.
People who did shorter bouts (less than five minutes) had a 4.36% chance of dying.
This went down to 1.83, 0.84, and 0.8 percent in groups two, three, and four, respectively.
The risk of acquiring cardiovascular disease was 13.03 percent for group one.
This dropped to 11.09, 7.71, and 4.39 percent in groups two, three, and four.
The researchers said, “Those who took most of their daily steps in longer bouts had a lower risk of death and cardiovascular disease than those who took steps in shorter bouts.”
“People who were less active had bigger differences.”
They did, however, admit that the study had significant flaws, such as the fact that participants had to disclose their own cardiovascular disease medications and the dosages were not recorded.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that individuals should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of strenuous activity every week.
It is thought that thousands of people die each year in the UK because they sit at their desks all day and then get on a train or vehicle to go home and sit in front of the TV.
According to one estimate from 2019, the disease caused 70,000 deaths per year and cost the NHS £700 million a year to treat.
A 2018 study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that almost one in ten (8.3 percent) of adult deaths in the US were caused by not being active.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that almost 2 million people die each year because they don’t get enough exercise. This makes it one of the top 10 causes of death and disability in the world.
Not being active has long been connected to health problems like heart disease and obesity, which is turn associated to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and several malignancies.
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