Here’s a new life hack to help keep the grim reaper at bay. Research out today seems to have pinned down the best length for a life-extending walk.
Scientists at the University of Sydney and others examined the walking habits of more than 30,000 people. Sedentary people who got most of their daily steps through 10- to 15-minute-long walks, they found, were the least likely to develop cardiovascular disease or to die early. The findings suggest an easy way for less active people to improve their heart health, the researchers say.
“These results can inform physical activity recommendations for individuals—particularly those who are otherwise sedentary or low-active—to incorporate longer, purposeful walking sessions into their daily routines to optimize health outcomes,” they wrote in their paper, published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
10,000 steps not needed
Contrary to popular belief, walking 10,000 steps a day isn’t the be-all, end-all of optimal health.
For starters, this number was originally coined from a marketing campaign in the 1960s by a Japanese company looking to sell their pedometers. Secondly, actual studies have found that walking as little as 2,300 to 4,000 steps a day can still keep you healthy and lower your risk of dying early (at the same time, there doesn’t seem to be an upper limit to the health benefits of walking even more).
Though any amount of physical exercise and steps taken is better than none, the researchers of this current study were interested in figuring out whether the duration of a walk is important, too. They analyzed data from the UK Biobank, a long-running project following the long-term health of residents. As part of the project, some participants were asked to wear a pedometer to tally their daily steps for a week.
The researchers specifically looked at 33,560 people between the ages of 40 and 79 years (the average age was 62) who were sedentary but had no existing history of heart disease or cancer when they wore the pedometers.
Over an average follow-up period of nearly eight years, 735 people died, while over 3,000 people developed cardiovascular disease. After accounting for various factors, the researchers found that people who took longer walks had the lowest risk of heart disease and early death compared to everyone else, while the greatest risk was seen in people who mostly took short walks lasting five minutes or less.
What should this mean for you?
This study is observational, meaning it can’t definitively prove a causative link between longer walks and better health.
The researchers also note that they tried to account for many variables in their analysis, such as the number of steps taken (people who walk longer tend to take more steps). But it remains possible they missed some important differences between long- and short-walkers that would better explain why the former live longer, outside of their average walking length.
While more research to confirm these findings would be valuable, it’s already clear that taking regular walks (or any form of physical activity) is great for you. And for those looking to make the most of their walks, it certainly seems reasonable that stretching them out a few minutes longer can be even better.