Most people know that staying active is important, and many of us have become a bit obsessed with tracking our daily step counts. However, there’s always been a debate about whether it’s better to go for one long walk or just let those steps add up naturally throughout the day in short bursts.
To find an answer, a team of international researchers recently carried out a large study. They discovered that the way you get your steps in might actually be just as important as the total number you hit by the end of the day.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, focused on a group of 33,560 adults between the ages of 40 and 79. These individuals were generally sedentary, averaging fewer than 8,000 steps per day.
By analyzing data collected over nearly a decade, the researchers discovered that those who moved in sustained sessions saw dramatically better health outcomes than those who relied on incidental steps.
The superiority of sustained movement
The primary takeaway from the research is that longer walking sessions are significantly more protective than short, scattered bursts of activity. Participants were categorized based on whether their steps typically occurred in sessions of five minutes or less, five to ten minutes, ten to fifteen minutes, or longer than fifteen minutes. The results showed a clear divide in mortality and heart health between these groups.
The health gap was staggering. Participants who primarily walked in sessions of at least 15 minutes experienced an 83% lower risk of dying compared to those whose movement happened in bursts of less than five minutes. Furthermore, the risk of cardiovascular disease – including heart attacks and strokes – was 68% lower for those who favored longer walks. This suggests that the body responds more effectively to the sustained physiological demand of a continuous walk.
Maximizing benefits for the inactive
Interestingly, the study found that even those who are quite inactive can see massive improvements without necessarily doubling their total step count. The researchers observed that simply tweaking the way steps are accumulated can be a game-changer for heart health. This is particularly relevant for those who find the traditional goal of 10,000 steps daunting or impossible.
Emmanuel Stamatakis, one of the study’s authors and the director of the University of Sydney’s Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub, noted the importance of shifting our focus. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, he stated: “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.” He further explained that the study shows “that even people who are very physically inactive can maximize their heart health benefit by tweaking their walking patterns to walk for longer at a time, ideally for at least 10-15 minutes.”
Correlation versus causation
While the results are compelling, the researchers acknowledged the difficulty in proving that the longer walks were the direct cause of the better health outcomes. It is possible that individuals who are naturally healthier or more educated are simply more likely to take longer walks. The study noted that those in the shortest-burst category were often more sedentary and had higher rates of obesity.
To address this, the team performed secondary analyses, excluding participants who were frail or reported poor health. Despite these adjustments, the benefits of longer walks remained consistent.
Aiden Doherty, a professor of biomedical informatics at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health, noted the high quality of the research but cautioned that the findings are still new. As mentioned in the WSJ report, he said that while the researchers are “some of the world’s leading physical activity researchers,” the “results need to be replicated in other studies in other countries to see if this might be due to causation rather than correlation.”
For now, he advised that adults should still strive for “at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week,” reminding us that “Every move counts!”