Most of us think staying healthy means hitting 10,000 steps a day, but new research shows that how you walk may matter far more than how much.
Scientists have now found that the secret to better heart health could be as simple as taking one or two longer walks each day — no gym, no gadgets, just 10 to 15 focused minutes on your feet.
Quality over quantity
A team from the University of Sydney and Universidad Europea followed over 33,000 adults aged 40 to 79 for nearly a decade to study how walking patterns affect heart health.
Their findings, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, revealed that people who walked in longer, uninterrupted sessions had up to two-thirds lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those who took short, scattered strolls.
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Why longer walks make a difference
Short bursts of movement throughout the day do help, but the research shows that continuous walking sessions give the heart and blood vessels a sustained workout, improving circulation and endurance.
Inactive participants who walked less than 8,000 steps a day still saw major benefits when they made time for just one or two longer walks.
Even 10–15 minutes at a steady pace reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and premature death.
Key results from the study include:
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- People who walked continuously for 10–15 minutes had only a 4% risk of cardiovascular events, compared to 13% among short walkers.
- Among those taking fewer than 5,000 steps daily, longer walking bouts cut their heart disease risk by more than half.
- Death risk dropped from 5% to under 1% for the least active participants who extended their walks.
The power of simple routines
The takeaway from this study is straightforward: you don’t need a smartwatch or a strict exercise plan to protect your heart.
Setting aside even a small window each day for a continuous, relaxed walk could bring measurable benefits.
The findings also challenge the long-held “10,000 steps” goal, showing that consistency and duration of movement are what truly count.
Artiklen er baseret på informationer fra ACP Journals
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