Do you need to walk thousands of steps a day if you want to be healthy? What are the benefits of walking? Is it important to walk speed heavy?

【The key points of this article】The study shows that walking about 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day can reduce the risk of premature death. For those over 60 years old, it is best to walk 6,000 to 8,000 steps a day. Adding five to one thousand steps a day is good for health, and you don’t need to worry about walking speed. The step-by-step target is easy to calculate, and experts recommend walking at least 7,000 steps a day. Walking can also help reduce risks such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and depression. Health guidelines may be included in the future. --by ChatGPT

Many people use the goal of walking ten thousand steps a day as the goal of their sports, but according to the latest research, it is still helpful to achieve the goal of 10,000 steps. The following are the answers to several common questions.

?

Research published in the journal The Lancet Public Health in 2022 shows that the best point of steps is not 10,000 steps or more. Overall, for men and women under the age of 60, the risk of premature death comes from about 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day.

For people over 60, the door is lower. For them, the best thing to reduce the risk of death is to walk 6,000 to 8,000 steps a day. In addition, taking more than 10,000 steps a day is not a bad thing for people, but it does not add much benefit to reducing the risk of death.

In addition, walking benefits are not limited to long-term poverty. In other studies, walking at least 8,000 steps a day in adults significantly reduced the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, multiple cancers and even sleep breathing cessation.

Is it better for health if you increase your steps slightly every day?

experts say that even if the daily steps increase is very small, it is good for health.

Ulf Ekelund, a professor at the Norwegian Institute of Physical Sciences, told The Washington Post that he would start with an increase of about 500 to 1,000 steps per day, and he is one of the co-authors of the stinging step study.

Ekelund said that you can try to add another five hundred or one thousand steps every two weeks until you reach at least eight thousand steps a day, and if you are over 60 years old, you will aim to achieve six thousand steps.

If the steps are converted into distance, for most people, a thousand steps is about half a mile (about 800 meters), and walking two thousand steps is about one mile, and walking 10,000 steps means walking about five miles.

Is the walking speed important?

If you don’t have time, for most people, a half-hour walk is equivalent to about three thousand steps.

Recent studies on steps and mortality have shown that the speed of people walking does not seem to matter, and the total steps they take throughout the day still have a greater impact.

The National Cancer Institute's sports activity epidemic scientist and another author of the "Spit" study, said walking faster may have a greater health benefit, but has little effect. The key is to walk as much as possible regardless of your pace.

Does walking help burn calories?

From a broad perspective, walking two thousand steps will burn about 100 calories for adults who move at average walking speed.

In fact, a typical donut contains about 300 calories of heat, and an apple has about 100 calories. Even if you take 10,000 steps a day, you can only consume about 500 calories.

It is easier to calculate steps than to calculate movement time

Why do experts recommend steps rather than to calculate movement time? Because this is simpler and more specific to most people than a weekly accumulation of "at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-strength aerobic exercise", which happens to be the official recommendation of the US official sporting activity guide for 2018.

Duke University medical professor William Kraus participated in the editing of the guide, saying that he has stopped trying to explain and unveil the guide to patients for body activities. Instead, they told them that they needed to walk at least seven thousand steps a day.

Why are step-by-step targets not included in the 2018 guide? Because the Science Advisory Committee felt that the certification was still weak at that time, most experts' prediction steps will be included in future guidance suggestions.