Is Walking 8,000 Steps Just 1-2 Days a Week Enough?
Briskly walking 8,000 or more steps each day of the week is associated with a significant decrease in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. A new study finds, however, that people taking just 8,000 steps one or two days a week are also less likely to die over a 10-year follow-up period. The study published in JAMA Network found that over a decade of follow-up, people 20 years or older who took 8,000 or more steps on one or two days a week were 14.9% less likely to die compared to people who were sedentary.
The risk of death dropped as the number of days involved increased. For example, exercising from three to seven days a week was associated with a 16.5% reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular deaths. The same pattern held true for people meeting step goals of 6,000 to 10,000 steps. The Lancet found that mortality risk decreases up to 10,000 steps per day for people younger than 60 and 8,000 for people older than 60.
‘Weekend warrior’ style of exercising: The study’s findings pertain to both “weekend warriors,” people who confine their exercise to non-work days, and to people who steal a few hours to walk during the week. The study cites recent data showing the average American takes just 4,800 steps a day, too few to provide much of a health benefit. “Brisk walking” is defined as walking three miles an hour. If you can speak song lyrics but not sing them, you are walking briskly.
Excerpted from Medical News Today
