The chances of developing many risky health conditions – such as heart attack, cancer, or dementia – depends a lot on your lifestyle factors.
If you generally eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, avoid smoking, get quality sleep, etc., then you are reducing your risks of developing any of these life-threatening conditions.
One such great activity you can do – is simply walk. Experts say walking regularly can lower your risk of these three troubling health problems, especially if you do one specific thing when you walk.
Read on to find out how to maximise your benefits from walking.
Tremendous benefits of regularly walking
A regular walking routine comes with numerous health benefits like lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, as well as obesity.
According to a new study published in journals JAMA Internal Medicine and JAMA Neurology, walking roughly 10,000 steps per day is associated with a 50 percent reduced risk of dementia.
So if you are doubting your activity tracker or thinking of investing in one, stick to it as keeping a daily step count of around 10,000 steps can prove wonderful for your health in the long run.
What’s the walking secret researchers found?
The new research looked at fitness tracking data from nearly 80,000 individuals. They found that those who sped up their step rate per minute gained more benefits from their daily walks.
So along with an increase in your daily step count, you can gain more health benefits of walking by going at a quicker pace.
According to the study, people who walked at a brisk pace (80 to 100 steps per minute) for 30 minutes per day, had a 25 percent lower risk of developing heart disease or cancer.
They also had a 30 percent lower risk of dementia, and a 35 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality. These were found on the basis of their comparison to those who walked at a slower average pace.
Brief bursts of walking also work
If walking at a higher pace for a stretch of 30 minutes is too difficult for you, the researchers note that you can still get the same benefits by brisk walking in short intervals. The results held true even when the researchers looked at the “the 30 highest, not necessarily consecutive, minutes in a day.”
“It doesn’t have to be a consecutive 30-minute session. It can just be in brief bursts here and there throughout your day,” Matthew Ahmadi, study author and a research fellow at the University of Sydney, told The New York Times.
It’s ok if you can’t reach 10,000 steps
The researchers found that participants who took an average of 9,800 steps per day gained optimal benefits of walking. Specifically, they noted that with each additional 2,000 steps per day, participants lowered their risk of premature death, heart disease as well as cancer by about 10 percent.
However, they also observed health benefits in those whose total step counts fell under 9,800-10,000.
The benefits may have continued to grow for those who took more than 10,000 steps per day, however, too few study participants reached that level of activity to collect enough data to determine any conclusive additional benefits.
Expert tips for walking
In order to increase your daily step count, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US, suggests beginning by choosing a route and time of day that you can easily stick to.
Their experts advise that the key is to “start slowly and work up to being physically active 150 minutes a week.”
Some other great ways to improve your daily count can be done by taking your dog for walks, walking as a way to socialise with friends or neighbours, walking any time you find yourself waiting, parking farther away from your destinations, taking the stairs instead of an elevator, and taking short walking breaks throughout your workday.
Aim to walk at a moderate intensity pace to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. “In general, at moderate intensity, you can talk, but you can’t sing,” says the CDC.
