Everyone knows that exercise is good for health. How can we maximize the benefits by spending the least amount of time exercising? The latest research points out that compared to the often-heard "10,000 steps a day", a lower threshold can...
Everyone knows that exercise is good for health. How can we maximize the benefits by spending the least amount of time exercising? The latest research points out that compared to the often-heard "10,000 steps a day", a lower threshold can actually bring about clear health improvements, especially for busy modern people and the elderly.
Hamatani Rikuta, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, recently published a new book, "Preventive Medicine Physicians Teach You How to Get Maximum Results with Minimum Effort: Dietetics," which uses a large amount of research data to analyze the most efficient health methods. He explains how to get the greatest health returns with minimal effort. The "ideal number of steps" is not 10,000 steps. Even a lower goal is enough to bring about significant health effects.
{99 9} Walking is especially important for the elderlyThere are many forms of exercise, but for the elderly, walking is the easiest and most popular form of exercise. Walking at a slower pace does not put a heavy burden on the heart and lungs, but the health benefits are very certain.
There are many studies exploring the relationship between step count and health. Some studies show that increasing the number of steps per day to about 7,500 steps. The more steps you take, the lower the risk of death and heart disease.
In the past, there were almost no studies exploring “how to walk” that is most effective. For example, which one is better, "dedicated walking once or twice a week" or "deliberately increase the number of steps every day"? To compare these approaches, the research team focused on older women.
The study used data from the large-scale Women's Health Study, in which 13,547 elderly women with no history of heart disease were selected and asked to wear accelerometers for one week to measure exercise time and steps, and to track death and heart disease 11 years later.
The study examined the relationship between "number of days to achieve step goal in a week" and the incidence of death and heart disease. Step count goals are divided into four categories: 4000, 5000, 6000, and 7000 steps per day, and statistical models are used to adjust factors such as age and disease.
Achieving 4,000 steps in 1 to 2 days a week is also very beneficial.As a result, two important findings emerged.
First, compared to people who never reach 4,000 steps a day, those who reach 4,000 steps 1 to 2 days a week have a 26% lower risk of death and a 27% lower risk of heart disease. That said, walking even just a small amount throughout the week may significantly reduce your risk of disease.
Second, when the "average number of steps" is added to the analysis, the above correlation completely disappears. This means that the most important thing about health is not "how to arrange walking patterns during the week", but the final "average number of steps".
In other words, the focus is "as long as you walk", and the target value should be placed on the "average number of steps" itself. For older adults who don't walk often, walking more often, even just a few days a week, may yield clear health benefits.
Another study using data from the European UK Biobank (average age is about 62 years old) examined whether the "duration" of a walk affects health. After adjusting for average step count, research shows that "the longer a single walk is, the lower the mortality rate." The comparison intervals are divided into: less than 5 minutes, 5 to 10 minutes, 10 to 15 minutes, and more than 15 minutes.
This study means that actually scheduling a fixed period of walking time every day has the additional benefit of additionally reducing the risk of death even if the average number of steps is the same. In other words, to establish a walking habit, it is also important to properly ensure a walking time.
The effects of walking vary from person to person, and the relationship between step count and health is inherently different with age. The average age difference between the two studies is about 10 years, so it needs to be interpreted with caution; in addition, both only measured the amount of exercise for one week, and cannot capture changes in habits.
More importantly, the study observed the correlation between "people who walk more have lower mortality", which is not equivalent to directly proving the causal relationship that "walking more will lead to a decrease in mortality". It may also be that "people who are unwell walk less", and the direction of cause and effect is reversed. However, even if this possibility is excluded from the calculations, the results are still consistent, so a causal relationship can still be partially speculated.
In summary, although the causal chain is not completely clarified, what is certain is:
‧Even a small amount of exercise can bring very large health benefits.
‧You don’t have to take 10,000 steps a day. Even if you reach 4,000 steps only 1 to 2 days a week, it may be effective in preventing heart disease or early death.
