Taking more steps a day, all at once or in shorter periods of time, can help you live longer. The benefits of more daily steps occurred with both continuous steps (10 minutes or longer) and short spurts such as stair climbing. This is according to preliminary research by the American Heart Association.
Walking is one of the safest and easiest ways to improve fitness and health, including heart health. The American Heart Association's fitness guidelines for adults recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both. Popular fitness apps and pedometers make it easy to count steps, so researchers used a portable pedometer to compare the effects of continuous steps (10 minutes or longer) with occasional short spurts, such as climbing stairs and general daily activities. during the day.
“The technological advances made in recent decades have allowed researchers to measure short bursts of activity. Whereas in the past we were limited to measuring activities that people could remember on a questionnaire,” said lead study author Christopher C. Moore. “Using wearable devices, more research indicates that any type of movement is better than staying seated.”
From 2011-2015, 16,732 women wore a waist pedometer that measures their daily steps and walking pattern over four to seven days. The women were all over 60 (mean age of 72; mostly non-Hispanic white women) and participated in the Women's Health Study, a large, national study of heart disease, cancer and other long-term disease prevention.
The researchers divided the total number of steps for each study participant into two groups:1) walking for 10 minutes or longer with few interruptions; and 2) short walks during normal daily activities such as housework, taking the stairs, or walking to or from a car. As a follow-up, they tracked deaths from any cause for an average of six years, through December 31, 2019.
Researchers found:
A total of 804 deaths occurred during the entire 2011-2019 study period.
Study participants who took more steps in short spurts lived longer, regardless of how many steps they took in longer, uninterrupted periods. The benefits leveled off at about 4,500 steps per day in short spurts.
Compared to the lack of daily steps, each initial increase of 1,000 steps per day was associated with a 28% decrease in death during the follow-up period.
A 32% reduction in deaths was noted in participants who took more than 2,000 steps per day in continuous periods.
A previous analysis of the same women reported that those who took 4,500 steps per day had a significantly lower risk of death compared to the least active women. “Our current results indicate that this finding is true even for women who have not taken continuous walks. Taking 2000 or more extra steps during periods was associated with further longevity benefits,” said Moore.
“Older adults face many hurdles to participate in structured exercise programs, so some may find it more convenient and enjoyable to increase daily walking, such as parking a little further from their destination or doing some extra housework or yard work,” Moore said. .
Since all of the study participants were older and mostly non-Hispanic white women, more research is needed to determine whether the results apply to men, younger women, and people of different racial and ethnic groups.
