Design in Movement – “Science News”

Move more! As a result of this study, why not make sure you put your walking shoes by your main door, so it’s easy to take up those strides and walk for a bit longer each day! Your body will thank you for it! Walking up and down the steps at home is also a nice way to boost your short burst step count up!

Evenson, Shiroma, Howard, Cuthbertson, Buring, and Lee report that “Taking more steps per day, either all at once or in shorter spurts, may help you live longer. . . . researchers used a wearable step counting device to compare the effects of uninterrupted bouts of steps (10 minutes or longer) to occasional short spurts, such as climbing the stairs and general daily activities throughout the day [such as housework]. . . Study participants who took more steps in short spurts lived longer, regardless of how many steps they had in longer, uninterrupted bouts. The benefits leveled off at about 4,500 steps per day in short spurts.  Compared to no daily steps, each initial increase of 1,000 steps per day was associated with a 28% decrease in death during the follow-up period. A 32% decrease in death was noted in participants who took more than 2,000 steps daily in uninterrupted bouts.”  All study participants were women over 60 years old.

“Taking More Steps Daily May Lead to a Longer Life.”  2021. Press release, American Heart Association, https://newsroom.heart.org/news/taking-more-steps-daily-may-lead-to-a-lo…