Copyright manchestereveningnews
It's widely believed that 10,000 steps a day is the gold standard for our health, but should we be aiming for one long walk or lots of short strolls? New research set out to answer this question. It found that taking one long walk is better for your heart health than taking lots of short ones throughout the day. The study found that adults adults who walked for longer periods - more than 10 minutes at a time - has much lower risks of cardiovascular disease and early death than those who walked for shorter periods. Just 15 minutes of continuous walking , or roughly 1,500 steps, is enough to give your heart a workout. The study found that those who walked for at least this long in one go slashed their risk of cardiovascular disease by two thirds compared to those who do not walk for more than five minutes at a time. "For the most inactive people, switching from brief walks here and there to longer continuous walks may come with some health benefits," co-lead author Dr Matthew Ahmadi at the University of Sydney said. "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." Studies suggest that nearly 31 per cent of the world's adult population are physically inactive and do not meet the global recommendation of getting at least 150 minutes of exercise per week. Sedentary lifestyles are linked to a higher risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and poor mental health. The latest study looked at 33,560 adults aged between 40 and 79 in the UK who walked less than 8,000 steps a day. Participants were given a wristband that measured their weekly steps and also how long each individual walk was. Over eight years, researchers from the University of Sydney and the Universidad Europea in Spain tracked the participants health. The results showed that among those who took fewer than 8,000 steps per day, those who walked at least 10-15 minutes or longer had a four per cent risk of cardiovascular events, such as a heart attack or stroke. However, participants who took their steps in very short bouts of less than five minutes had a 13 per cent risk of suffering from a cardiovascular event. Those who were the least active - walking 5,000 steps a day or less - benefitted the most from continuous bouts of walking. Participants in this group halved their risk of developing cardiovascular disease from 15 per cent to 7 per cent - simply by walking for 15 minutes a day instead of five. Senior author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis said: "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. "This study shows that even people who are very physically inactive can maximise their heart health benefit by tweaking their walking patterns to walk for longer at a time." The study was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine .
