Ever since the fitness tracker and smartwatch boom in the 2010s, the push to increase daily step counts — often aiming for 10,000 steps a day — to maintain a healthy lifestyle has become a global phenomenon.
But a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that the health benefits of walking may depend less on how often people walk and more on the quality of the movement.
One of the biggest factors, experts say, is whether your walk raises your heart rate enough to qualify as cardio. Molly Gearin, a physical therapist at WAVE Physical Therapy & Pilates in Ohio, told USA Today that “this will vary depending on a person’s training and health history.”
“Typically, a brisk walk and incorporation of hills/variable elevation can be considered a cardio workout, but a casual walk more than likely won’t raise your heart rate into an aerobic training zone,” she added.
There are five main target heart rate zones, according to the Cleveland Clinic. To calculate your max heart rate, subtract your age from 220. And from there, you can figure out your goal heart rate for each zone.
Zone 1 is considered an easy, warm-up or recovery effort, using only 50 to 60 percent of your max heart rate. Zone 2 is a light effort that is 60 to 70 percent of your max heart rate, helping build endurance and burn fat. Zone 3 is a moderate effort, between 70 and 80 percent of your max heart rate, that improves aerobic fitness and strength. Zone 4 improves speed and power, using between 80 to 90 percent of your max heart rate. Zone 5 is peak effort, between 90 to 100 percent of your max heart rate, and is best for competitions or breaking personal records.
“If you are walking for stress relief or social interaction, a low-intensity, moderate-to-long duration walk can be a good option,” Gearin said. “However, for maximal cardiac benefit, you may want to consider adding in some bursts of high intensity — around 80 percent of your max heart rate — for one to 4 minutes at a time.”
Dr. Elroy Aguiar, an assistant professor of exercise science at the University of Alabama, similarly emphasized the importance of picking up the pace on walks.
“Our studies [published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine] show that if you walk at a cadence of about 100 steps per minute, that’s equivalent to what’s called ‘moderate-intensity’,” Dr. Aguiar told The Independent’s fitness writer Harry Bullmore last year. “All of the research in this area suggests that most of the benefits [of walking] accumulate at a moderate or higher intensity.”
He added that “even a short amount of exercise has an immediate effect,” explaining, “Straight away, you get lower blood pressure and lower blood glucose.”
Dr. Aguiar said, “These studies are showing that walking, not necessarily in huge volumes, is associated with large reductions in risk of all-cause mortality.”