An evening stroll after dinner or an early morning walk upon walking — the choice is yours. A recent study has found that walking for more that 10 minutes strengthens your heart and sets you up for longer, healthier life.  

In a recent US study, researchers identified people who walked longer than 10 minutes had substantially lower risks of cardiovascular disease and premature death when compared to those participants who walk for shorter periods. The study was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

“Walking is indeed a good form of fitness exercise as it is one of the easiest aerobic activity to do,” said Ige Lopez, an endurance coach on marathons, ultra marathons and triathlons, for the  last 25 years. “Walking can improve your cardiovascular health, strengthen bones especially in the lower limbs, manage weight and improve your mood.”

“Most studies focus on the total number of daily steps (including our previous studies), but ours shows that how you accumulate those steps matters, too — especially for less active individuals,” said Dr. Borja del Pozo Cruz, the study’s first author. “This adds nuance to the ‘10,000 steps a day’ idea: even if you don’t reach that number, taking a few longer walks rather than many short, scattered steps can make a real difference for heart health and longevity.”

Nearly 31 percent of the world’s adult population are physically inactive and do not meet the global recommendation of getting at least 150 minutes of exercise per week.

Sedentary lifestyles have been linked to a higher risk of insomnia, mortality and cardiovascular disease.

No shortcuts to health

Ramos adds, “Varying your walks can help a lot. You can start shorter walks of 15 minutes then progress to 30 minutes, which is ideal to do every day.” 

He adds that longer walks of one hour onwards can definitely improve your overall aerobic endurance. Walking around nature can surely help with your mood as sounds and sights of nature lowers stress.

Regular exercise trains your muscles to pull oxygen from your blood, which reduces heart rate, inflammation and stress.

“Longer walks likely help by improving blood circulation, lowering blood pressure, and supporting glucose control — all key for heart health,” Del Pozo Cruz said.

They also may increase the volume of heart stimulation, which may be needed to fully activate and engage your muscles, he added.

But like most muscles in your body, exercising for longer periods isn’t something that you can do immediately.

You can think about taking a longer walk like lifting a 100-pound (45-kilogram) dumbbell, said Freeman. “I couldn’t just go over and do it from the get-go. I’d have to build up the capacity, build up the muscle strength to get there. And the same thing is true for cardiac strength and cardio.”

So often we hear people tell us to reach a certain goal: 10,000 steps per day or 150 minutes of exercise per week. But that can be difficult to keep track of and overwhelming, especially for people who don’t live a particularly active lifestyle.

That’s why this study focuses on duration, or how long you walk.

“Pace still matters, but duration and consistency of walking bouts seem to be powerful factors. So, instead of counting every single step, people might focus on carving out short sessions of continuous walking during their day,” Del Pozo Cruz said.

Building cardiac strength

Consistency is key. Incorporating simple exercises, like walking, into your daily routine will build stamina and increase physical capacity.

The easiest method is walking, and following good walking form by standing tall with your shoulders back and swinging your arms, which can help prevent backaches, make it easy to breath and keep you balanced.

For people just starting out, you can increase duration of walks by parking farther away from your usual spot or engaging in “cozy cardio.”

“Walking strengthens the heart through time as it improves blood circulation, increases your heart rate and through time strengthens the heart muscles to prevent cardio diseases,” added Ramos. “Longer walks are way better than shorter walks as these improve your overall cardiovascular health and overall aerobic endurance. Therefore,  give more health benefits than shorter ones. Also, doing faster paced walks can help you improve your heart health.”

Go ahead, take a walk and do you heart a healthy favor.