Heart Attack Prevention: The Right Way to Walk for a Healthy Heart
A recent study conducted on a global scale indicated that it was not merely the amount of walking you did, but rather your walking style that could meaningfully lower your risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as heart attacks or stroke. In fact, the studies showed that walking continuously for ten to fifteen minutes as opposed to short walks throughout the day, positively impacted cardiovascular capacity and reduced the risk of heart disease by nearly two-thirds.
The Role of Walking Duration
While walking is generally known for improving overall well-being, this new study has found that longer, continual walks have more benefits than shorter, sporadic walks. Walking continuously for ten to fifteen minutes has been shown to result in a markedly reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, compared to those who only did shorter walks throughout the day.
Experts stated that even if the total number of daily steps taken remained the same, how and how far someone walked mattered more in the context of improving their heart health.
Study Findings
Researchers followed 33,560 individuals between 40-79 years of age, over an eight year period. Each individual did less than 8,000 steps a day and prior to enrollment, each participant was free of cardiovascular disease or cancer.
The results show that:
- Those who took some time out of their day to walk slowly for at least 10–15 minutes had only a 4% probability of experiencing a heart event (such as heart attack or stroke).
- Those who walked only in short spurts (less than 5 minutes at a time) had a 13% probability of experiencing heart events.
- Even individuals who were inactive, prolonged walking was beneficial in reducing the likelihood of dying and having heart event.
Expert Comments About Walking and Heart Health
As the lead author of the study, Dr. Matthew Ahmadi, of the University of Sydney pointed out: for people who are sedentary, however, moving from short walking to prolonged steady walking would lead to a greater improvement in overall health.
Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, also from the University of Sydney, noted: It is not about how many steps you have done but how you did it, and we all know that even those who sit a lot can improve their heart health by trying to walk for longer periods of time, and ultimately we should all try for 10-15 minutes where we can.
Dr. Borja del Pozo from Universidad Europea said little changes like trying to commit to a few longer walking sessions each day can be very important for our long-term health.
The Broader Impact: A Shift Toward Better Heart Health
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of global mortality, accounting for approximately 32% of deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Simple strategies, like additional walking time, could be a cost-free and effective tactic for resolving this global health problem.
Health professionals believe this study could change exercise recommendations, as getting others to focus on quality in walking rather than quantity is much more beneficial. A regular or consistent, easy-paced stroll, even just once or twice daily, is significant for exercise and affects sedentary populations very effectively.
As noted in the study, if you want to improve heart health, the recommendation is simple – walk better, not just longer. Aim to easily walk uninterrupted 10-15 minutes per day for good health. It’s simple to see the benefit of walking for hearts and health in practice.
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