A new study found that longer walks substantially lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease compared to shorter walks.
- A long walk may provide greater heart and longevity benefits than multiple shorter walks, even if you cover the same number of steps.
- A new study finds that a 10–15-minute walk lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and death compared to frequent shorter walks throughout the day.
- The findings suggest that the way you walk may matter as much as how much you walk.
A new study suggests that a long daily walk may benefit your heart and overall health more than several shorter walks.
The research, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, shows that how you exercise — not just how many steps you take — affects the health benefits gleaned from daily physical activity.
In a large prospective cohort study of people who were less physically active (fewer than 8,000 steps per day), participants who got most of their daily steps in through a longer walk, 15 minutes or more, had a significantly lower risk of death than those who got their steps through brief walking bouts shorter than five minutes.
The benefit also applied to cardiovascular events such as heart attacks — people who took longer walks had a substantially lower risk than those who took shorter walks.
“Walking more is good for your heart — and if you can occasionally sustain a walk for 10–15 minutes, all the better,” said Evan Brittain, MD, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who wasn’t involved in the research.
“Among people who average fewer than 8,000 steps per day, those who have an intentional practice of walking (whether they call it exercise or not) have better outcomes compared with those who walk for shorter periods,” he told Healthline.
The study, and others like it at the intersection of exercise science and preventive medicine, could eventually help reshape physical activity recommendations.
Healthline
