Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, by staying more time at home, the opportunities for walking have decreased and sedentary lifestyle has inevitably increased.
All this can only have serious repercussions on general health.
«Walking and moving are simple but incredibly healthy activities, which can be easily integrated into everyone's daily life. That's why I urge everyone to do it, ”says Jean Wactawksi-Wende, Ph.D., dean of UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions (SPHHP) and co-author of both studies.
Walking is considered a low impact cardio exercise, very useful for older people.
Furthermore, walking is one of the most suitable physical activities for mental well-being.
The research was based on data collected over several years by women who were aged between 50 and 79 at the start of their studies.
But be careful to walk with the right footwear and not to overdo it, otherwise the risk is to incur a stressful metatarsal fracture or, the following day, to feel pain in the foot upon awakening.
But to keep fit is it better to walk or run?
It seems that to lose weight, the ideal would be to walk one hour a day.
While this activity may seem monotonous, here are some tips to make walking more varied.
or stroke at the start of the study.
All were able to walk at least a block without assistance or particular fatigue.
During the mean follow-up period of 11 years, 38,230 participants were diagnosed with hypertension but after considering all possible causes, including the presence or absence of other types of exercise, the researchers concluded that women who walk more are 11% less likely to develop hypertension than those who do less frequently.
Speed matters more than duration
Furthermore, in the fastest walkers, the risk of hypertension is 21% lower than in slower walkers.
The study therefore suggests that walking is always positive, but also that doing it at a brisk pace has a more significant effect on the risk of hypertension than the total distance or duration of walking.
However, this shouldn't scare you. "Trying to keep pace doesn't mean you have to turn into a runner, you just need to pick up your usual pace a little," reassure the study's lead investigator Connor Miller and Michael LaMonte, Ph.D., associate researcher in epidemiology at the "SPHHP.
Compared to participants who reported sitting for no more than 4.5 hours per day, those who did for 4.6-8.5 hours per day were associated with a 14% increase in failure risk. cardiac.
This risk reached 54% in the case of prolonged sedentary lifestyle for more than 8.5 per day.
Doing other sports is not enough
Another interesting aspect of the research is that even among women who engaged in other types of physical activity, the risk of heart failure was significantly increased if they spent more than 9.5 hours per day sitting or lying down.
"This latest discovery points to the need not only to encourage greater physical activity for the prevention of heart failure, but also to promote the" disruption of sedentary time during the day, "says LaMonte.
According to the researchers, the risks of heart failure associated with prolonged sedentary behavior are equal to those of obesity and diabetes.
Other studies suggest that this behavior may also favor the onset of type 2 diabetes and promote the development of atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart muscle). This in turn would further increase the risk of heart failure.
Exercising while sitting could also help the heart.
Furthermore, according to a Canadian study, stretching would fight hypertension.
and sedentary behavior.
Furthermore, both insights were based on what the participants said about how far and fast they had walked or the amount of time they spent sitting or lying down, without scientifically verifying their real behaviors.
Finally, the study of sedentary behavior only measured the total time people spent sitting or lying down. Other research, using accelerometers to record participants' movements, suggests that the duration of each uninterrupted period of sedentary behavior is also an important factor.
