Whether it’s taking laps around the house, adding a few extra steps by parking further from your destination, working at a standing desk, doing light housework, or any other of many options- the more active you are, the better. The golden standard has long been that people should aim to walk 10,000 steps a day. But recently, studies are showing that any increase in activity can improve your health- it isn’t an all-or-nothing scenario.
Staying active:
- improves brain health
- decreases the risk of type 2 Diabetes
- lowers likelihood of metabolic syndrome
- prevents hypertension
- strengthens against osteoporosis
- reduces the chance of stroke
- lessens anxiety and stress
- wards off some types of cancer
- decreases pain
Moving can extend your life. Walking just 4,000 steps per day is associated with a lower risk of death, according to the analysis published Tuesday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
The research pooled the results of 17 studies that looked at the health benefits associated with step counts across six countries. There were roughly 227,000 participants across the studies. The least active people in the studies took around 4,000 steps per day and still saw a reduced risk of death from any cause. The analysis included people who took as many as 20,000 steps per day and did not find an upper limit to the health benefits of walking. The more steps people took, the lower their risk of dying.
- Each extra 1,000 steps per day was associated with a 15% reduction in a person’s overall risk of death.
- Walking at least 2,337 steps per day lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease
- Each extra 500 daily steps associated with an additional 7% reduction in risk.
- For people under age 60, walking between 7,000 and 13,000 steps per day lowered the overall risk of death by 49%.
- For those ages 60 and older, walking 6,000 to 10,000 daily steps lowered the risk by 42%.
Other studies also show the benefit of staying active- particularly walking. In a 13-year study of older adults consisting of 62,178 men and 77,077 women, participants who walked at least 150 minutes per week were about 20% less likely to die than their inactive counterparts.
Experts and medical providers have largely encouraged an increase in physical activity to help support improved wellness. Despite the abundance of information about the benefits of exercise, most Americans are inactive. It didn’t happen overnight. A recent analysis of energy expenditure for occupations in private industries in the U.S. since the 1960s shows that back then, nearly 50% of occupations required at least moderate intensity physical activity. Since the 1960’s, energy expenditure has slowly declined, with now fewer than 20% of occupations requiring moderate intensity physical activity.
Now on average, Americans take between 3,000-4,000 steps per day, but that varies widely based on age, location, and occupation. If you fall within the range of being less active, get started today. The sooner you begin building lifestyle habits that improve your health, the more you’ll reap the benefits. Slowly work towards the recommended amount of physical activity- according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it is recommended that adults:
- Get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week.
- Add moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity (such as resistance or weights) on at least 2 days per week.
- Spend less time sitting. Even light-intensity activity can offset some of the risks of being sedentary.
- Gain even more benefits by being active at least 300 minutes (5 hours) per week.
- Increase amount and intensity gradually over time.
Too many argue they don’t have enough time in the day to exercise. But aerobic and muscle strengthening activities can be broken up, just as those steps accumulate over the course of a day. A few minutes here, a few minutes there, all adds up.
Just get started.
-https://academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad229/7226309?login=false
-https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/average-steps-per-day
-https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21647427/
-https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/30/3/744/25512/Physical-Activity-of-Moderate-Intensity-and-Risk
-https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/moderate-and-vigorous-physical-activity/
-https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19211953/
-https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/192010#qundefined
-https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15353531/
-https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-many-steps-better-health
-Tudor-Locke C, Schuna JM Jr. Steps to preventing type 2 diabetes: exercise, walk more, or sit less? Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2012 Nov 19;3:142. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2012.00142. PMID: 23189071; PMCID: PMC3500773.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22694051/
-https://www.flexchair.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2017/05/sitting_time_and_mortality_from_all_causes.pdf
-https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/35/12/2493/38568/The-Effect-of-Walking-on-Postprandial-Glycemic
-https://diatribe.org/step-step-approach-better-blood-sugars-walking
-https://www.verywellfit.com/benefits-of-walking-after-eating-5272278
-https://today.yougov.com/news/2013/01/14/resolutions-gone-bad
-https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/196345
-https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00125-003-1031-x
-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3500773/