Summary
Summary: Leslie Rusch-Bayer's blog post delves into the benefits of walking as exercise, highlighting its cardiovascular advantages, stress management, and caloric expenditure. A recent study challenges the notion of 10,000 daily steps, revealing that even as few as 2,337 steps can reduce mortality risk, with every 500 additional steps offering a seven percent risk reduction. The article underscores the need for change in exercise routines to yield diverse health outcomes, emphasizing adjustments for bone loss, weight management, and more.
Individuals enjoy walking for many reasons. Walking is a type of exercise considered low intensity, low cost, and low risk. It can improve cardiovascular and pulmonary strength, promote lean muscle mass, manage stress, and increase caloric expenditure. No matter the age or fitness level, many individuals find walking enjoyable, especially with friends.
10,000 Steps? The Revelations of a Recent Study
A recent study from the Journal of Preventive Cardiology shows that taking as few as 2,337 steps daily can decrease the risk of death. This differs from the accepted recommendation of 10,000 steps daily. The study shows that with each additional 500 steps taken, the risk decreases by an additional seven percent, with no upper limit! The more steps taken, the lower the risk of death.
Amazingly, individuals less than sixty years of age walking between 7,000 to 13,000 steps daily decreased the risk of death by 49%, and individuals greater than sixty years of age walking 6,000 to 10,000 steps daily reduced the risk of death by 42%. This is excellent news for individuals starting to incorporate walking into a healthy lifestyle or working to increase daily steps.
Change: The Key to Transformation
However, I often meet patients at risk for bone loss, cardiometabolic diseases, or are striving for weight loss who state they are ALREADY walking 10,000 steps daily. It is not uncommon for individuals who are already active to become frustrated with medical recommendations that include exercise they are already completing. It is time to state the unfortunate truth that change must be made to expect change.
Significant bone loss is experienced by many active, post-menopausal females. Maintaining a regular walking routine, although healthy for many other reasons, will not improve bone loss outcomes positively because the exercise was not changed. The same can be said for weight loss, cholesterol, or high blood sugar. A lifestyle change must take place to expect a different outcome.
Adapting Exercise to Evolving Health Goals
Exercise can be altered in many ways, most commonly by increasing time, duration, intensity, or variety of types of exercise. Increased heart rate, labored breathing, perspiration, and muscle fatigue are all common when moderate-intensity exercise has been reached. As with all forms of exercise, if any adverse symptoms are experienced with exercise, the exercise should be stopped. Individual target heart rates for moderate-intensity exercise are calculated using the following equation: 220 – age x (64-76%).
Change is uncomfortable in every way. It can even be scary in older individuals; however, with proper guidance and explanation, exercise changes can be made safely, regardless of age.
Beyond Fitness: Walking’s Untapped Health Potential
Walking is a great way to start adding more activity to a lifestyle. Research shows that the earlier walking starts, the better the outcomes. However, as will all exercise, as goals are met, changes must occur to encourage continued health outcomes. Exercise is hard. It challenges how we breathe, how our heart beats, how far we can stretch, and how strong we are, but with proper guidance, anyone can continue to make improvements.
If you need help meeting your exercise or nutrition goals, we’re here to help! Schedule an appointment online or call 309-692-6838. Leslie is accepting new patients.
Leslie Rusch-Bayer, Registered Dietitian, Couri Center for Gynecology & Integrative Women’s Health
CONTACT US-ARTICLE
DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this website is intended for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information provided is current as of the date of publication or last review, but medical knowledge is constantly evolving, and the information may become outdated over time.
Sources:
Maciej Banach and others, on behalf of the Lipid and Blood Pressure Meta-analysis Collaboration (LBPMC) Group and the International Lipid Expert Panel (ILEP), The association between daily step count and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a meta-analysis, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2023;, zwad229, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad229
https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/measuring/heartrate.htm