Stories
Harvard Study Reveals Simple Secret to Longevity: Walk More, Walk Fast!
- •A new Harvard study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests that walking can significantly increase lifespan.
- •The research utilized data from the UK Biobank, tracking over 100,000 participants with an average age of 62.
- •Participants wore trackers for 7 days, monitoring their steps and activity levels between 2013 and 2015.
- •The study found that taking 7,500 to 10,000 steps per day was associated with the lowest death rates.
- •Maintaining a brisk pace of at least 90 to 100 steps per minute for 30 minutes daily is a promising target for longevity, even for those with limited time or ability.
Key Questions Answered
A new Harvard study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that walking can increase lifespan. Researchers found that maintaining a brisk pace of at least 90 to 100 steps per minute for 30 minutes a day is a promising target for longevity, and taking 7,500 to 10,000 steps daily is linked to the lowest death rates.
The research team used data from the UK Biobank involving 103,684 participants whose average age was 62 years. From 2013 to 2015, these participants wore a tracker for seven days to monitor their activity levels, followed up over a period of about eight years.
Researchers determined walking pace by averaging steps per minute across the 30 highest-activity minutes of the day. Taking 7,500 to 10,000 steps daily yielded the lowest death rates, while walking fewer than 5,000 steps at a faster pace also substantially lowered mortality risk.
