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A lot has been said about physical activities as a health metric. The World Health Organisation (WHO) even gives standard recommendations on the amount of physical activity to aim for every week. The recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity isn’t achievable for many people. Is there another way you could achieve sufficient health benefits, being well off the 150 minutes?
Turns out you could stay healthy by just incorporating 15 minutes of fast walking every day. Fast walking has always been known to be better than slow walking. New research has augmented this kind of inference. Nearly 85,000 participants were evaluated over many years. Those who walked fast for at least 15 minutes had better health outcomes. They had better cardiometabolic health, better weight control, fewer musculoskeletal symptoms, lower cognitive decline and overall lower rates of premature deaths. There were a host of other health benefits, including better sleep, improved immunity and lower rates of cancer.
But how do you define a fast walk? It’s been suggested that you can simply know you are walking fast when you can talk, but not sing. Another simple way is noticing a change in your breathing pattern. When walking fast, your breathing rate tends to rise, and so does your heart rate. You may literally need to catch your breath as you walk faster and faster. If you are walking ever so slowly, you will hardly notice any such physical changes.
The busy bodies out there have no more excuses if they can’t make time for 150 minutes of moderate physical exercise. Hiving off time for a 15-minute brisk walk should be a no-brainer. A 15-minute break from work shouldn’t make anybody any less productive. You can build in some 15 minutes to your shopping trips, or within other common chores. No one needs a gym to benefit from 15 minutes of brisk walking every so often. There are simply no more excuses.
But what if you can’t walk fast due to other prevailing health conditions? In such cases, walking at whatever pace still confers some health benefits. Any physical activity, no matter how slow, also contributes to overall health. If your status limits your mobility, just do a pace that is tolerable without compromising your other health issues. It, however, remains a matter of fact that walking fast has substantial and specific health benefits which slow walkers will miss out.
So the next time you are out for a walk, don’t hang back with those walking slowly and having a laugh. Get into a faster walking pace that takes your breath away. The faster you can walk, and the longer you can stretch it, the healthier you will be.
Dr Murage is a Consultant Gynaecologist and Fertility Specialist.
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