[ad_1]
Walking up to 10,000 steps a day reduces the risk of heart disease and premature death, even when you spend the rest of the day sedentary, research suggests.
The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicinefound that each additional step above 2,200 steps a day (up to about 10,000) reduces these risks, regardless of how much remaining time is spent sitting.
Experts found that the lowest risk of premature death was among people who took between 9,000 and 10,500 steps a day.
When it came to avoiding strokes and heart attacks, the lowest risks were in people who took about 9,700 steps a day.
The study, led by academics at the University of Sydney, analyzed data from more than 70,000 people aged around 61. UK Biobank.
For the research, participants wore an accelerometer for seven days to measure their exercise levels. After a seven-year follow-up, 1,633 deaths and 6,190 cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or strokes were recorded.
The study concluded that between 9,000 and 10,500 steps a day reduced the risk of premature death by 39% and the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke by more than a fifth.
Although the results also showed that any daily step count above 2,200 per day was linked to lower rates of death and heart disease, regardless of how much time a person spent being sedentary, the benefits increased the more steps people took.
In both cases, half of the benefit was achieved between 4,000 and 4,500 steps per day.
Julie Ward, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “We know that daily physical activity is essential to help maintain a healthy lifestyle and reduce the risk of developing heart disease and the risk of having a stroke.
“These encouraging new studies show us that every step toward 10,000 steps a day counts toward reducing the risk of death and heart disease. Even low levels of activity can reduce the risk of stroke.
“We encourage everyone to stay active for their heart and circulatory health by doing 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
“This can be any activity that fits your lifestyle, such as taking regular walking breaks away from your computer screen, going to the gym, enjoying exercise classes, or even getting off the bus a stop earlier to take more steps. “.