LONDON (dpa-AFX) - A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that taking at least one longer walk per day, instead of several shorter strolls, can offer greater benefits for heart health, particularly for individuals with relatively low physical activity levels.
The research examined data from 33,560 adults aged 40-79 in the United Kingdom, all of whom walked fewer than 8,000 steps per day on average. The findings indicate that walking for a continuous period of at least 15 minutes, which equates to approximately 1,500 steps, can provide a more effective cardiovascular workout compared to multiple shorter walking sessions.
While the often-cited target of 10,000 steps per day has become a popular fitness goal, this benchmark originated from a Japanese pedometer advertisement rather than scientific evidence. Nevertheless, healthcare experts generally agree that increasing the overall number of steps taken per day can have a positive impact on an individual's overall health and wellbeing.
The researchers tracked the walking patterns of 735 people who died, and 3119 others who had cardiovascular disease during the study over eight years.
Researchers from the University of Sydney and the Universidad Europea in Spain categorized participants based on the duration of their daily walks:
They studied groups with walking bouts of shorter than 5 minutes, 5 to 10 minutes, 10 to 15 minutes, and longer than 15 minutes. Sedentary participants had fewer than 5000 daily steps, and low-active participants had 5000 to 7999 daily steps. Even among them, longer walks made a big difference.
The study found that people who walked in longer stretches had a lower risk of heart problems and death than those who walked shorter distance.
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