It’s less than we thought.
It is commonly advisable to take 10,000 steps per day to benefit from many health benefits. This idea has its origin in a marketing campaign launched by a podometers company during the 1964 Olympic Games in Japan, recalls the British Heart Association, an English organization of cardiovascular research. If many studies have since affirmed the benefits of health march and the 10,000 steps have remained a benchmark, no figure is really consensus in the scientific community. Especially since the age, the corpulence and the physical capacities of everyone can make the famous 10,000 steps difficult to visualize and apply daily. Harvard American researchers simplify things.
Walking is the key “To lose weight, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, stimulate memory and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and much more” Share a report published by the Harvard Medical School. It is also considered the ideal activity to preserve cardiovascular health because it promotes good blood circulation. Uninformed physical activity having practically no side effects, walking is “Accessible everywhere and without equipment”continue the researchers. But how long to walk for it to be good for the heart?
Rather than counting the steps, let’s look at our watch. Just “2.5 hours per week or only 21 minutes a day (to) reduce the risk of heart disease by 30%” says Harvard’s report. About twenty minutes a day correspond to around 2,500 steps. An observation shared in the journal “European Journal of Preventive Cardiology”, which attests to “2,337 not a day reduce the risk of dying of heart disease and blood vessels”.
A short walk therefore already has significant advantages for cardiovascular health. “Even a one -minute walk is profitable” Add the researchers. And if you have the opportunity to do more, so much the better. “Our study confirms that the more we walk, the better it is, says Professor Maciej Banach, author of the study. The risk of death, all causes, or cardiovascular disease decreases significantly every 500 to 1,000 additional steps. “ Now you know what you have to do: “Put on your shoes, go out and rediscover the pleasure of walking” conclude the researchers.
