Niamh Shackleton
It's not new information that any form of exercise is good for you in a number of ways.
From weight lifting helping with depression, to aerobic exercise such as cycling helping to reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, there's many benefits to getting your body moving.
Walking is also key to keeping healthy, and we've long been told that we should be aiming for 10,000 steps a day.
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Some people might hit this target with ease, but if you work a desk job, you'll know how hard it is to get up and about to hit that amount of steps.
With this in mind, many people will be pleased to know that less than 3,000 steps a day can prove beneficial too. Of course the more the better, but, as per a 2023 study, as little as 2,337 steps can reduce you chance of dying from cardiovascular diseases.
Meanwhile, 3,867 steps a day reduced the risk of death of any cause.
To get the results, researchers analyzed 17 previous studies involving 226,889 participants who were generally healthy or patients at risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
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The study explains: "There is strong evidence showing that sedentary life may significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease and shorten the lifespan.
"However, the optimal number of steps, both the cut-off points over which we can see health benefits, and the upper limit (if any), and their role in health are still unclear.
"In this meta-analysis of 17 studies with almost 227,000 participants that assessed the health effects of physical activity expressed by walking measured in the number of steps, we showed that a 1,000-step increment correlated with a significant reduction of all-cause mortality of 15 percent, and similarly, a 500-step increment correlated with a reduced risk of CV mortality of seven percent."
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Another study suggested that walking at a more brisk pace is also beneficial in comparison to a more leisurely stroll.
Looking at the associations of daily step counts with cancer and cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality and all-cause mortality, it was found that 'more steps per day (up to about 10,000 steps) was associated with declines in mortality risks and decreased cancer and CVD incidence'.
It went on to note: "Peak-30 cadence (stepping intensity) showed consistent associations with improved morbidity and mortality rates."
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To conclude, whether its 2,000 or 10,000 steps a day, future you will thank you getting them done.