Walking in bouts of 10–15 minutes or longer was associated with substantially lower cardiovascular risk among adults taking fewer than 8,000 steps a day, with 15‑minute‑plus bouts tied to about a two‑thirds lower risk than very short walks, according to research published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
A large cohort study of UK Biobank participants reports that how steps are accumulated—not just how many—matters for heart health in people who are relatively inactive. Among adults who averaged 8,000 steps a day or fewer, concentrating walking into longer, continuous bouts was linked to lower risks of cardiovascular events and death than taking the same steps in many very short bouts. (medicalxpress.com)
Researchers analyzed 33,560 adults ages 40–79 who had no cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline. Participants wore wrist accelerometers for one week to capture both step counts and bout patterns, and were then followed for an average of about 7.9 years for cardiovascular events and mortality. (sydney.edu.au)
Key findings at 9.5 years of follow‑up, by the length of walking bouts in which participants accumulated most of their daily steps:
- Cardiovascular events: 13.03% for bouts under 5 minutes; 11.09% for 5–<10 minutes; 7.71% for 10–<15 minutes; 4.39% for ≥15 minutes.
- All‑cause mortality: 4.36% for bouts under 5 minutes; 1.83% for 5–<10 minutes; 0.84% for 10–<15 minutes; 0.80% for ≥15 minutes.
These figures indicate that sustained 15‑minute‑plus walking bouts were associated with roughly a two‑thirds lower cumulative risk of cardiovascular events than very short (<5‑minute) bouts. (lifescience.net)
The results suggest that people who take fewer than 8,000 steps a day can improve heart health by restructuring how they walk—for example, aiming for one or two continuous walks of at least 10–15 minutes—rather than focusing solely on a daily step total. The study’s authors and institutional summary note the findings challenge the idea that hitting 10,000 steps is necessary to see benefits. (sciencedaily.com)
Study leaders emphasized practical takeaways. “Simply adding one or two longer walks per day, each lasting at least 10–15 minutes, may have significant benefits—especially for people who don’t walk much,” said co‑lead author Dr. Matthew Ahmadi of the University of Sydney. Senior author Prof. Emmanuel Stamatakis added that recommendations often overlook “how” walking is done, not just totals. Co‑lead author Dr. Borja del Pozo of Universidad Europea encouraged scheduling longer sessions if current walking is minimal. (Quotes from the University of Sydney news release.) (sydney.edu.au)
What this study does not show: Because the analysis is observational and measured activity patterns during a single week, it cannot prove causation, and unmeasured factors may partly explain the associations. Still, the pattern‑risk gradients were consistent across outcomes. (lifescience.net)