Regular physical activity is associated with a variety of physical and mental health benefits. Such benefits include weight loss, increased strength and endurance and improved cardiovascular health, among other things. Whether or not you are currently exercising on a regular basis, walking as little as 30 minutes per day can help you achieve your health and fitness goals.
Weight Loss
Due to the increasing visibility of obesity and associated health problems, Alfredo Morabia and Michael Costanza of the Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland calculated the minimum amount of physical exercise required to prevent unwanted weight gain. In their 2004 study, they determined that rising obesity rates can be curbed if the average person burns an additional 100 calories per day through exercise. To achieve this goal, these doctors suggest walking at a moderate or brisk pace for 15 minutes per day or at a slow pace for 30 minutes per day. Due to the added benefits of increased exercise, however, they suggest that the average person attempts to walk for 30 minutes per day at a brisk or moderate pace, or for 60 minutes per day at a slow pace.
Cardiovascular Health
In addition to helping you to maintain or lose weight, walking may help improve your cardiovascular health. In a 2010 study, Dr. Thomas Metkus of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and his colleagues outline how exercise can be prescribed to promote cardiovascular health. They suggest a minimum of 30 minutes per day of brisk walking, five days per week, to prevent cardiovascular disease. With as little as one hour of walking per week contributing to a decreased risk of coronary heart disease, they suggest that you can start at 10 minutes per day before working toward the 30-minute per day goal.
What is a Brisk Pace?
Whether your goal is to lose weight or improve your cardiovascular health, doctors and researchers recommend walking at a brisk pace for 30 minutes per day. According to Dr. Thomas Metkus and his colleagues, a brisk pace can be achieved with a treadmill setting of 3 to 4 mph. As this 3 to 4 mph setting is only a general guideline, you may wish to use a pedometer to help you find the correct treadmill setting to achieve a brisk pace. Using guidelines based on the results of a 2009 study by Simon Marshall and colleagues at San Diego State University, a pace of 100 steps per minute, or 3,000 in 30 minutes, is a brisk pace for both men and women.
Other Benefits
A 2003 study by Louise Ada and colleagues at the University of Sydney in Australia found that walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes per day may help prevent the development of disabilities in people who are recovering from a stroke. For those who have already developed physical impairments following a stroke, Richard Macko of the University of Maryland and colleagues have shown, in a 2005 study, that walking on a treadmill can help decrease the severity of these impairments. Such improved movement abilities from treadmill walking programs are also possible in people afflicted with multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. In a 2007 study, Meredith Newman of the NOC NHC Trust in Oxford, UK, and colleagues found that treadmill training can reduce fatigue and effort associated with walking for people with multiple sclerosis. Similarly, a treadmill training program may help people with Parkinson's disease improve their gait, according to a 2010 review by Jan Mehrholz of Kreischa, Germany's Wissenschaftliches Institute.
References
- "American Journal of Public Health"; Does Walking 15 Minutes Per Day Keep the Obesity Epidemic Away? Simulation of the Efficacy of a Populationwide Campaign; Alfredo Morabia and Michael C. Constanza; March 2004
- "Circulation"; Exercise Prescription and Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease; Thomas S. Metkus et al.; June 2010
- "American Journal of Preventive Medicine"; Translating Physical Activity Recommendations into a Pedometer-Based Step Goal; Simon J. Marshall et al.; May 2009
- "Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation"; A Treadmill and Overground Walking Program Improves Walking in Persons Residing in the Community After Stroke: A Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Trial; Louise Ada et al.; October 2003
- "Stroke"; Treadmill Exercise Rehabilitation Improves Ambulatory Function and Cardiovascular Fitness in Patients With Chronic Stroke; Richard F. Macko et al.; October 2005
- "Multiple Sclerosis"; Can Aerobic Treadmill Training Reduce the Effort of Walking and Fatigue in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study; Meredith A. Newman et al.; January 2007
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