Taking a walk is an easy way to move your heart to better health. Some studies recommend walking as many as 10,000 steps a day; however, this may not be realistic for everyone. How many steps should you walk each day for optimal heart health, and what are some alternatives?
In this Q&A, Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, explains how much you need to walk each day to keep your heart beating strong. Dr. McLaughlin is also Director of Cardiovascular Health and Wellness, Mount Sinai Heart, and Co-Director of the Women’s Cardiac Assessment and Risk Evaluation Program at the Mount Sinai Health System.
Do people need to walk 10,000 steps a day for optimal health? And if so, why?
There are studies showing that overall risk of death or heart attacks is reduced in people who walk at least 10,000 steps a day. More recently, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, there was an article looking at those who walked 8,000 steps or more, and it showed that in 3,000 adults followed for over 10 years, those who exercised at least 8,000 steps a day had reduced death rates. They found that even exercising 8,000 steps or more just one to two days a week had a significant reduction in dying from cardiovascular disease or dying period. This study supports that idea that you can—by step counting—have very good effects on cardiovascular health.
Is there a lower number of steps people can aim for that would still allow them to achieve good heart health?
We now know that 8,000 steps a day actually is very effective, even just one to two times a week. In addition, being active at least five hours a week does have health benefits. Anything more than being a true couch potato definitely can incrementally improve cardiovascular health, and those people who work very long hours during the week and are weekend warriors, those who exercise vigorously on weekends alone, can still reduce their risk of cardiovascular bad outcomes. You don’t have to do 10,000 steps a day, per se. Any bit of exercise is better than none at all.
What are the cardiovascular risks of being too sedentary, and how does walking reduce these risks?
When we look at the risk of heart attack, we look at some major risk factors. Diabetes is one; hypertension is another; high cholesterol is another; family history of premature coronary disease is another. When we look at what exercise does, it improves the vascular health—the blood vessels are more effectively exchanging oxygen to the muscles and to the brain; it reduces obesity and the effects of diabetes on the heart. Both of those—by reducing excess weight and sugar—can improve the risk of cardiovascular disease.
What walking speed should I aim for to get the best cardiovascular health results?
When we look at intensity of exercise, we actually have different scales that we use in cardiac testing. We know that two and a half to three miles per hour is considered moderate intensity—that’s what we say is equivalent to three metabolic equivalents of exercise, or three “mets.” When people are walking more vigorously—up to four miles per hour—that’s considered vigorous exercise
What other exercises will give me similar health results?
If you don’t particularly love to walk all the time, things like bicycling at 6 to 12 miles per hour can reduce cardiovascular events; jogging around seven miles per hour; swimming 50 yards per minute; tennis, especially singles tennis, pickleball, and even doubles tennis, can be very vigorous exercise.
What are some other health benefits of walking?
Recently, the Journal of American Medical Association—Neurology, showed that those who had a higher number of steps at 9,000 steps per day, had a lower risk of dementia. For those who dislike exercise, when we talk to them about what the real benefits are—prolonging life, reducing risk of heart attacks and now, dementia—that will have a very big impact.
How many minutes per week should I be walking or exercising?
The American Heart Association guidelines have recommended at least 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise, or 75 minutes a week for vigorous aerobic activity for those who want to be weekend warriors. We also recommend adding resistance or weight muscle strengthening. For overall health, that helps balance, reduces risk of falls as we age, and anything that reduces time sitting is important. Many people are using standing desks, and that is actually shown to be a little healthier than sitting all day. Anything that gets everyone off the couch has excellent health benefits.
What else can I do to improve my heart health?
The other important part of that is eating healthy. You want a healthy diet, one that’s lower in saturated fat, higher in vegetables, more of a plant-based diet, with healthy meats, including fish and chicken, less of the red meat and saturated fats. I hope you found this helpful and go out and take a good walk this weekend.