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One 10–15 Minute Walk a Day Linked to Lower Heart Risk in Inactive Adults

An Annals of Internal Medicine study using UK Biobank wearables finds continuous 10–15 minute bouts outperform scattered short steps for cardiovascular protection.

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Young man walking with his Goldendoodle dog in meadow against blue sky.
Consistency is key. Incorporating simple exercises, like walking, into your daily routine will build stamina and increase physical capacity

Overview

  • Among adults averaging fewer than 8,000 steps daily, accumulating most steps in one or two continuous walks of at least 10–15 minutes was associated with markedly lower rates of cardiovascular events and death over roughly eight years.
  • Cardiovascular event risk was about 4% for those taking longer bouts versus about 13% for those walking in very short bouts under five minutes, despite similar total daily steps.
  • Benefits were greatest in the least active group (5,000 steps or fewer), where estimated cardiovascular risk fell from 15% with short bouts to 7% with longer bouts, and estimated mortality dropped from about 5% to under 1%.
  • Researchers analyzed 33,560 UK Biobank participants who wore accelerometers for a week, noting that results are observational, based on a single measurement window, and drawn largely from a white sample, which limits generalizability.
  • Coverage also highlights a separate wearable-data analysis proposing heart-rate response per step as a potential risk marker, though that evidence remains observational and has not prompted guideline changes.