New research indicates that both the intensity and duration of walking can independently contribute to significant health benefits, including a reduced risk of mortality. The study, which analyzed data from the UK Biobank, focused on step count, walking cadence, and the likelihood of death over a period of several years.
Researchers discovered a nuanced relationship between walking habits and health outcomes. For individuals who walked fewer than 5,000 steps per day, a measure often considered sedentary, increasing their walking pace to approximately 100 steps per minute led to a notable decrease in mortality risk compared to those who maintained a slower pace for the same step count. This suggests that even shorter walks can be more impactful if performed at a brisker speed.
Conversely, the study also found that individuals who walked between 5,000 and 7,500 steps per day at a slower pace still experienced a similar reduction in mortality risk. This indicates that accumulating a moderate number of steps, even without a high cadence, can also yield substantial health advantages.
"The vast majority of the body of evidence had looked at the volume of daily steps and health outcomes," said Borja del Poro Cruz, a professor at Universidad Europea de Madrid and an author of the study. "Few studies have isolated and looked at cadence." The findings suggest that people who are not meeting a higher step count goal might still maximize benefits by incorporating more intensity into their existing walks.
This clarification of the relationship between step volume and exercise intensity is considered valuable for physicians advising patients on healthier lifestyles. "The steps concept is important because it can resonate with people," said Dr. Shaan Kurshid, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, who was not involved in the study. "And so I think that improving our understanding of that metric and how to best use it is important."
Federal guidelines recommend 2.5 hours of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week, but defining this can be abstract. Del Poro Cruz offered a practical estimation for determining if a walk is sufficiently vigorous: if it becomes difficult to hold a conversation or sing while walking, the pace is likely around 90-100 steps per minute, aligning with the cadences where peak benefits were observed in the study.