According to a new study published by Annals of Internal Medicine and relayed by the BBC, taking one long walk a day is better for the heart than several short walks, especially when you don’t do much exercise. According to researchers, the ideal duration of this daily walk should be 15 minutes, or around 1,500 steps in one go.
Much less than the 10,000 daily steps often recommended today and which would find their source… in a Japanese advertisement for a pedometer. Researchers agree that walking is good for your health, but your heart will be more used during a single long walk, even if it’s “only” a few thousand steps.
To carry out their study, researchers from the Universities of Sydney (Australia) and Europea (Spain) followed the health of 33,560 adults aged 40 to 79 living in the United Kingdom and walking for eight years. less than 8,000 steps per day. In order not to bias the study, the scientists also took into account different factors such as smoking, obesity and the cholesterol level of their subjects.
Using a step counter, participants were divided into four groups according to the duration of their daily walks. Those who walked less than 5 minutes (43%), those who walked 5 to 10 minutes (33.5%), those who walked between 10 and 15 minutes (15.5%) and finally those who walked more than 15 minutes a day or more (8%). The finding is unequivocal: the risks of cardiovascular disease and mortality were considerably reduced for people who favored long walking sessions.
The way you walk is also important
The authors of the study claim that
the way you walk matters as much as the number of steps taken. Walking longer at a time – even if you walk a little overall – seems particularly beneficial for the heart. The study shows that even very inactive people can maximize the benefits for their heart by adapting the way they walk, with longer walks, ideally at least 10 to 15 minutes.
A goal that would be easy to achieve by planning this walk every day until it becomes a ritual, like brushing your teeth or going to the toilet.
However, Kevin McConway, professor of applied statistics at the Open University (UK), points out that while the study shows a link between walking and better heart health, no direct causality has been demonstrated.
Therefore, we can stick to the recommendations of the British health system, the NHS: the ideal duration of exercise to preserve heart health is 150 minutes per week. People over the age of 65 should try to move every day, even slightly, for example by doing household chores.
For Emily McGrath,
cardiology nurse at the British Heart Foundation, exercise of any type benefits your health and helps maintain a healthy life. Although it can be difficult at first to be active on a daily basis, especially in our sedentary lives, the body gets used to it over time.
