A large study of women in their seventies suggests that logging 4,000 steps a day can cut the risk of early death by more than a quarter. The findings challenge the long-entrenched benchmark of 10,000 steps and indicate that overall step volume matters more than how often people are active across the week, according to The Independent.
Researchers reported that this protective effect held even when those steps were accumulated only once or twice a week. Increasing totals beyond this threshold brought further, though more modest, gains for mortality and heart health. The Independent reported that the results underscore that moving more in any preferred pattern confers benefits.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, followed 13,547 women free of heart disease and cancer at the outset, with an average age around 72, who wore devices for seven consecutive days to track steps and were then monitored for nearly 11 years, according to The Independent. Over the follow-up, 1,765 participants (13%) died and 781 (5.1%) developed heart disease.
The data shows that, compared with relatively sedentary peers, women who reached 4,000 steps on one or two days a week had a 26% lower risk of death from any cause and a 27% lower risk of heart disease. Achieving the same step total on three days a week was associated with a 40% reduction in early death and a 27% reduction in heart disease. Pushing the step count higher to between 5,000 and 7,000 steps was linked to a 32% lower risk of death and a leveling off in cardiovascular mortality benefits at 16%.
The authors concluded that “the number of steps per day, rather than the frequency of days/week achieving a particular step threshold, is important” for reducing mortality and heart disease in older women. They said physical activity guidance for this group should consider recommending at least 4,000 steps a day on one to two days a week to lower risk.
Among adults who otherwise reported no structured exercise, weaving five to 10 brief, up-to-one-minute bursts of vigorous effort into daily routines was associated with 30% to 50% lower risks of cardiovascular conditions, cancer, and mortality. The team also reported that for people walking up to 8,000 steps a day, completing those steps in one or two steady 10–15 minute walks reduced cardiovascular risk by roughly two-thirds compared with accumulating the same number of steps in many short, fragmented bouts.
Stamatakis pointed to simple, practical changes. Walk faster instead of slower. Choose hillier routes. Take the stairs, not the escalator. Park farther away to add extra steps. Play active games with children.
The goal is to reach a level of intensity where speaking in full sentences becomes difficult.
Source:
www.jpost.com
