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For many people, exercise is a numbers game: they grit their teeth to reach 10,000 steps a day, a seemingly magical number that defines fitness. Even Oprah Winfrey does it.
But what if you do not need a lot to improve your health?
A recent study of older women found that those who were about 4,400 steps a day were less likely to die in the next few years than those who were more sedentary.
"What's really encouraging for these older women is that just taking a step that's very beneficial to their health really does not need 10,000 steps a day to get that benefit," he said. Lead author I-Min Lee, a professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said today.
"Part of that is getting used to the idea of just moving. I'm not asking you to go out and do physical exercise, but rather to move. "
The default lens is often used by many activity plotters a day, but the source of this number is not clear – there seems to be nothing scientific or significant about it .
This is probably from the name of a pedometer sold in 1965 in Japan, called "Manpo-kei", which translates to "10,000 steps per meter" in Japanese, the study says. A researcher also told Lee one day that the 10,000-person Japanese character looked like a man walking, and a reporter told him that 10,000 was a lucky number in this country.
Some experts say that even this goal – the equivalent of about 5 miles – is not enough to be fit or lose weight.
But for many people, doing 10,000 steps a day may not be feasible – the average number of Americans is between 4,000 and 5,000 steps a day, Lee said. She was curious to know if older people really needed this more ambitious goal or if they could still benefit from the measures taken during housework or gardening. Previous studies have shown that every exercise makes for a longer and healthier life.
The study is based on data from 16,741 women who wore markers for one week. Participants, who were on average 72 years old at the start of the study, were followed for the next four years.
When they were divided into four groups, from the least active to the most active, women in the least-significant group – who did about 4,400 steps per day – were 41% less likely to die during the follow-up period. women in the least active group performing approximately 2,700 steps a day.
Mortality rates gradually decreased with more activity, but decreased to 7,500 steps per day.
The intensity of the progression did not make any difference: in other words, when two people did the same number of steps a day, but one slowed down and the other faster, that did not seem to be the case. important. What mattered was the number.
The results probably apply to older men as well, but it is not as clear that they would apply to younger or more active people, Lee said, adding that further research was needed in the future. these groups.
People on average average an average of 2,500 walks a day doing daily tasks such as going to the bathroom, moving around the house, receiving mail, etc., she noted.
Adding only 2,000 additional steps to this routine, which is equivalent to walking one and a half kilometers a day, is very feasible and can dramatically improve your health, she said. Experts recommend moving every 30 minutes for at least one minute to reduce the risk of sitting all day. Take a stroll in the garden, do more housework, play with your pets – the idea is to make the movement automatic, as if you were brushing your teeth in the morning.
"When you get up in the morning, you do not think: do I have to brush my teeth or do not brush my teeth? Once you've gotten used to not sitting too much, but walking a little more, people will be surprised at how easy it is to take extra steps, "Lee said.
"Of course, there are people coming to 10,000 steps – I'm not saying less. If you want to do 10,000 steps, more power for you … I encourage that person.
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