The faster you walk, the better for your health!

September 6, 2018 / BIOON / - some people like to stroll among rose bushes to enjoy the fragrance of flowers, while others prefer to walk to their destination as fast as they can And a recently published study shows that people who walk faster are less likely to die early The researchers studied more than 50000 walkers over the age of 30 who lived in the UK between 1994 and 2008 The researchers collected data on the walkers, including how fast and how slow they thought they were going to walk They then looked at their health At the same time, the researchers controlled some factors to ensure that the results were not due to their poor health or habits like smoking and exercise Photo source: https://pixabay.com/ researchers found that any faster walking speed than walking can reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease (such as heart disease or stroke) Compared with walkers, those who walked at a moderate speed had a 20% lower risk of early death from any cause, and a 24% lower risk of death from heart disease or stroke Those who thought they walked fast had a 24% lower risk of early death for any reason, and a 21% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease The researchers also found that the benefits of fast walking were more pronounced in the elderly For example, people over the age of 60 with moderate walking speed have a 46% lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, while fast walking people between the ages of 45-59 have a 36% lower risk of early death for any reason At the same time, the researchers also found that only in these elderly people can the risk of early death decrease linearly with the increase of walking speed Source: what does this mean? These findings suggest that walking at a moderate or fast pace may have long-term benefits, especially in the elderly, compared with walking slowly But the researchers also said the study was an observational study and they did not control all the factors that might affect the results For example, people in poor health walk slowly because of their physical condition, and the same reason may lead to their early death To reduce the effect of this reverse causal relationship, the researchers excluded anyone who had a heart attack at the start of the study, had a stroke or cancer, and died two years before the experiment Another thing to note is that participants in this study reported on their own walking speed, which means there may be a false impression In terms of walking speed, there is no standard to determine what kind of speed is slow, medium or fast It's obvious that fast walking, which is considered by 70 year olds with poor health and sedentary people, and fast walking, which is considered by 45 year olds with athletic health, may not be a concept Based on this, the researchers think their results can be understood as reflecting the intensity of exercise relative to the participants' ability to exercise That is to say, the greater the physical consumption, the better the health effect For the general healthy middle-aged people, the speed of 6-7.5km/h is a fast walking speed If it continues, it can make most people out of breath Walking 100 steps per minute is equivalent to moderate intensity sports Photo source: https://pixabay.com we now know that walking is a good sport for most people of all ages The results of this study show that walking at a certain speed will change our physiological state and may even make walking a kind of exercise Despite the long-term health effects, fast walking will make us get to our goal faster and make time for other things, which will make our daily life different, such as spending more time with loved ones or reading good books Reference materials: [1] the fast you walk, the better for long term health – especially as you age Https://theconversion.com [2] Catherine Tudor lock et al Using cadence to study free living ambulatory behavior Sports MED (2012) 42: 381 Https://doi.org/10.2165/11599170-000000000-00000 [3] supplement of physical activities 【4】Marie H Murphy et al Self-rated walking pace and all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality: individual participant pooled analysis of 50 225 walkers from 11 population British cohorts British Journal of Sports Medicine 2018; 52:761–768.http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-098677 【5】 New study shows more time walking means less time in hospital https://theconversation.com 【6】 We asked five experts: is walking enough exercise? https://theconversation.com
【7】Adrian E Bauman et al Effect of Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity on All-Cause Mortality in Middle-aged and Older Australians JAMA Intern Med 2015;175(6):970-977 doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.0541