A large UK study of over 33,000 low-activity adults has found that accumulating daily steps in longer, uninterrupted sessions is linked to significantly lower risks of early death and cardiovascular disease, compared to short bursts of walking. The research, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that how steps are grouped matters as much as total step count for those walking fewer than 8,000 steps per day.
Researchers analyzed data from 33,560 adults in the UK Biobank who averaged 8,000 or fewer steps daily, with a median of 5,165 steps. Participants were categorized by walking bout lengths: under 5 minutes (42.9% of the group), 5 to under 10 minutes (33.5%), 10 to under 15 minutes (15.5%), and 15 minutes or longer (8.0%).
Over a 9.5-year follow-up, all-cause mortality risks declined with longer bouts. Those primarily walking under 5 minutes faced a 4.36% risk (95% CI, 3.52% to 5.19%), dropping to 1.83% (CI, 1.29% to 2.36%) for 5- to 10-minute bouts, 0.84% (CI, 0.13% to 1.53%) for 10- to 15-minute bouts, and 0.80% (CI, 0.00% to 1.89%) for 15 minutes or more.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks showed an even stronger pattern. The cumulative CVD incidence was 13.03% (CI, 11.92% to 14.14%) for under-5-minute walkers, 11.09% (CI, 9.88% to 12.29%) for 5- to 10-minute bouts, 7.71% (CI, 5.67% to 9.70%) for 10- to 15-minute bouts, and 4.39% (CI, 1.89% to 6.83%) for those with 15-minute or longer sessions.
The benefits were particularly pronounced among the most inactive participants, those taking fewer than 5,000 steps daily, where longer walks correlated with substantially reduced risks of both mortality and CVD. The study, led by Borja del Pozo Cruz and colleagues, implies that for sedentary or low-active individuals, prioritizing extended walking periods could enhance health outcomes without needing to boost overall activity levels. It was published in the December 2025 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine (DOI: 10.7326/ANNALS-25-01547).
