Taking one long walk each day could offer greater heart health benefits than several shorter strolls, according to new research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study, which examined data from nearly 34,000 adults in the United Kingdom, focused on people who typically walked fewer than 8,000 steps a day—a level researchers described as “suboptimal.” Participants were divided into four groups based on the duration of their usual walking sessions: under five minutes, five to 10 minutes, 10 to 15 minutes, and 15 minutes or longer.
Roughly three-quarters of the participants tended to take short walks lasting less than 10 minutes. However, those who took longer walks were found to have better cardiovascular outcomes and lower mortality rates.
The study revealed that people who walked mostly in bouts of 15 minutes or longer had about one-third the risk of developing heart disease compared to those whose walks were shorter than five minutes. Specifically, the risk of heart disease was 13 percent among those who walked in under five-minute intervals, 11 percent among those who walked for five to 10 minutes, 7.7 percent for 10- to 15-minute walkers, and just 4.4 percent for those who typically walked for 15 minutes or longer.
The benefits appeared strongest among the most sedentary participants—those who took fewer than 5,000 steps per day. In this group, longer walks were even more closely linked to lower risks of both heart disease and premature death.
These findings add to a growing body of evidence about how walking patterns, not just total step counts, affect health. Walking briskly helps increase heart rate, boost circulation, reduce blood pressure, and maintain a healthy weight.
Although the popular goal of 10,000 steps a day has become a global fitness benchmark, researchers have found that the health benefits start to appear at around 7,000 daily steps. Another recent study showed that older women who reached at least 4,000 steps once or twice per week had lower rates of heart disease and mortality than those who never reached that threshold.
However, the researchers noted several limitations. Participants who took shorter walks were generally more sedentary, more likely to be overweight, and less likely to hold university degrees—all factors that independently affect heart health. While the study adjusted for these variables, it could not definitively prove that longer walks directly caused better outcomes.
“This study provides evidence that different walking patterns might influence heart and mortality risk, but we can’t be certain about cause and effect,” said Kevin McConway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at the Open University in the UK, who was not involved in the research.
Even so, the authors said their findings could help shape exercise guidelines, especially for less active individuals. They recommend that people “incorporate longer, purposeful walking sessions into their daily routines to optimise health outcomes.”
