A study has suggested that walking continuously for at least 15 minutes or about 1,500 steps including those who are inactive can improve heart health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The study, carried out by a group of researchers from the University of Sydney and the Universidad Europea in Spain and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that people who walked in longer, uninterrupted bouts experienced far greater heart benefits compared to those who took short, sporadic walks lasting less than five minutes.
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The group of researchers in the study revealed that they had tracked 33,560 adults aged between 40 and 79 in the United Kingdom (UK) who typically walked fewer than 8,000 steps a day.
According to the Independent report, it indicated that participants wore wristbands for a week to record their walking habits and were monitored for eight years to assess their cardiovascular health.
The findings showed that those who walked continuously for 10–15 minutes or more had just a 4% risk of experiencing cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or strokes, compared to a 13% risk among people who only walked in short bursts.
The benefits were even greater for the least active participants, those averaging 5,000 steps or fewer per day. In this group, walking for at least 15 minutes a day instead of five reduced their risk of developing cardiovascular disease from 15% to 7%.
Their risk of death also dropped dramatically from 5 per cent to less than 1 per cent.
Co-lead author Dr Matthew Ahmadi of the University of Sydney said, “For the most inactive people, switching from brief walks here and there to longer continuous walks may come with some health benefits.
Additionally, Ahmadi said, “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.”
Senior author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis added that how walking is done matters as much as how much walking is done.
“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,” he said.
