Doing 10,000 steps a day is good, but study shows walking fast is better

They found that 10,000 steps a day was associated with a 50 per cent lower risk of dementia.

Physical activity in general has “tremendous benefits” for the cardiovascular health and brain health, explains co-lead author Dr Matthew Ahmadi, Research Fellow at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health.

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“We know that with dementia risk and brain health, in general, you’re likely to see improvements in vasculature throughout the brain, which may increase or maintain brain cell health,” Ahmadi says, adding that vascular dementia is tightly linked with cardiovascular health, which is affected by our physical activity levels.

Up to 10,000 steps a day was also associated with steady declines in cancer risk, cardiovascular disease risk and death by any cause.

The minimal dose for health benefits was 3,800 steps a day, which was associated with a 25 per cent reduction in dementia risk. For every 2000-step increase above that, there was an eight to 11 per cent reduction in cardiovascular and cancer disease risk.

Interestingly, walking pace had benefits above and beyond total steps and people who only moved 30 minutes a day, but at a fast walking pace, saw similar health benefits to the 20 per cent of participants achieving 10,000 a day.

“Sometimes hitting 10,000 steps can be really difficult,” says Ahmadi. “If you can just walk at a faster pace for brief moments throughout the day, you can, get those same health benefits as those who do have the time to get to that 10 K mark.”

He adds: “Obviously if you want to maximise everything, hit that 10 K and walk at a faster pace.”

Rob Newton, a professor of exercise medicine at Edith Cowan University, explains that higher intensity exercise “causes a much more potent production of ‘internal medicine’ within the body through hormonal and immune responses”.

Ahmadi explains that the discrepancy between this research and the studies published last year is because theirs was the first study to use 24-hour step data. Previous studies have monitored participants for 12 to 14 hours a day “potentially missing some additional steps that may occur”.

Given that devices giving us feedback about our activity have become so much more prevalent, it’s information that can give us a tangible aim each day and, Ahmadi says, may inform future public health recommendations:

“We’re working towards those first step-based guidelines for the 2030 iteration of the WHO physical activity guidelines.”

Newtown, who was not involved with the research, says it is a large and important study demonstrating “the absolute necessity” of regular physical activity. But, he adds, there is “nothing magical about stepping”.

Rather, it is the volume and the intensity that matters, so it might equally be achieved through swimming, rowing, cycling, dancing or running.

We also need strength training to prevent loss of muscle and bone as we age.

“Exercise is not a single medicine. It is many different types and how it is taken in terms of dosage has quite varied benefits to different systems within the body,” says Newton. “This latest research sends a clear message that despite all the advances in medical science humans have to be physically active every day.”

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