Walking Faster Reduces Early Death Risk Equally to More Steps

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that walking faster, even for brief periods, lowers the risk of death about as much as walking more slowly for a longer duration. Researchers analyzed data from 103,684 middle-aged and older adults in the UK Biobank study. They discovered that a walking pace of about 100 steps per minute, regardless of total steps, was associated with a reduced risk of early death. This suggests that increasing walking speed can benefit health, especially for those who struggle to reach the recommended 5,000 steps a day.