Walking Faster Is Better Than Doing 10,000 Steps At A Slow Pace, Finds Study

It doesn¡¯t matter how many steps you walk in a day, what matters is how your pace was during each one of them, according to a new study published in JAMA.

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Conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney¡¯s Charles Perkins Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health, the study is based on data from UK Biobank to link up step count data from 78,500 UK adults aged 40 to 79 with health outcomes seven years on.

Individuals were wearing a wrist accelerometer to measure physical activity for at least three days out of a seven-day period, which included weekends day monitoring as well as monitoring during sleep periods.

Researchers found that hitting 10,000 steps a day was linked with a 50 percent lower risk of developing dementia.

The study highlighted that physical activity had considerable benefits for cardiovascular health and brain health, in fact, as little as 3,800 steps a day was linked with a 25 percent reduction in dementia risk with an eight to 11 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer risk.

However, walking pace showed benefits over and beyond total step count. People who walked for just 30 minutes, but at a fast walking pace saw health benefits similar to those hitting 10,000 steps every day.

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Dr Matthew Ahmadi, the lead researcher of the study explains, ¡°Sometimes hitting 10,000 steps can be really difficult. If you can just walk at a faster pace for brief moments throughout the day, you can get those same health benefits as those who do have the time to get to that 10 K mark. Obviously, if you want to maximise everything, hit that 10 K and walk at a faster pace.¡±

He added, "The size and scope of these studies using wrist-worn trackers makes it the most robust evidence to date suggesting that 10,000 steps a day is the sweet spot for health benefits and walking faster is associated with additional benefits. Going forward more research with longer-term use of trackers will shed more light on the health benefits associated with certain levels and intensity of daily stepping."

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