You don’t have to run, sweat, or obsessively check your step counter. A new study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, reveals that 4,000 steps a day, even just once or twice a week, may reduce the risk of early death by 26% and the risk of heart disease by 27%.
Among older women, an increase in the number of activity days to three times a week led to an even more dramatic decrease – a 40% reduction in premature death and a 27% reduction in the risk of heart disease.
The researchers, including researchers from Harvard University, followed 13,547 women with an average age of 72, all of whom were healthy at the beginning of the study. They wore step counters for a week, and the researchers monitored their health for nearly 11 years. During this period, 13% of the women died, and 5% developed heart disease.
So how much walking is really needed?
The study determines: The quantity is more important than the frequency. In other words, you don’t have to walk every day, as long as you accumulate enough steps, even if it’s only on one or two days a week. The researchers also found that “there is no single correct pattern of physical activity – every movement counts, and people can choose what suits them.”
And although more than 5,000–7,000 steps led to a further decrease in mortality (32%), the reduction in the risk of heart-related death leveled off and amounted to only 16%.
The idea of 10,000 steps a day has become a milestone in home fitness over the past decade, but according to this study, it’s simply inaccurate. According to the researchers: “There is no need to adhere to a rigid daily threshold – even a small amount of physical activity, several times a week, can significantly change health risk.”
The conclusion: It’s better to do something, even a little, than to do nothing at all.