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Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

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Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#41

Post by HopenHeyHi »

anonporridge wrote: post #2

Doctors: It's really important that you regularly exercise. Get your heart rate up high a few times a week with some sports! Doctors: Just 10,000 steps of walking every day is fine too! Doctors: Ok, how about 8,000 steps only once or twice a week. Can you do that? Doctors: For the love of god, please just get off the couch every once in a while...

Correct: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adherence_(medicine)

Although the studies I glanced at say something like:

>2000 greatest reduction in risk

6,000–9,000 steps per day 50% reduced risk of CVD for 60+ year olds 10k steps, marketing for original pedometer

20k steps, best way to lose weight, almost nobody does this daily :)

Here is a depressing video High School Fitness (1962): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGa6BPj3Mcw

And the easiest one to compare is of course US basic training standards that have gone down each time they have been revised since WWII.

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#42

Post by rsynnott »

cozzyd wrote: post #3

I wonder how remote work has impacted the average number of steps per day. I normally get ~5k steps from my commute (walk from home to train, walk from train to office and vice versa) without doing anything else. On days I work from home I'm definitely much more sedentary. Yes I can go on a walk to compensate, but I usually don't...

During the pandemic era, I deliberately went for a one to two hour walk to nowhere in particular every evening after work for precisely this reason (at the height of the restrictions in Ireland, you had to stay within 2km of home, so I went in circles). Honestly it's about all that kept me going.

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#43

Post by knallfrosch »

cozzyd wrote: post #3

I wonder how remote work has impacted the average number of steps per day. I normally get ~5k steps from my commute (walk from home to train, walk from train to office and vice versa) without doing anything else. On days I work from home I'm definitely much more sedentary. Yes I can go on a walk to compensate, but I usually don't...

People move around way less.

There's a vocal group though, that will tell you how – finally – they're able to hit the gym four times a week.

It's less, but people think it's more. It might be true for some, some of the time for some months, but of course movement will decrease.

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#44

Post by tiedieconderoga »

BigCryo wrote: post #4

Ain't going to help ...you're going to die anyway.. so best you just move to Brazil and travel to the Amazon River and build a raft and live on it and catch fish and pick fruit and stare up at the stars every night till you get old and decrepit and wonder at the marvelous universe that you were born in until one day you see no more and you feel no more and you are no more.. instead of just striving and working out an…

If you don't mind me asking, why don't you do that?

If you already are, what are the rates like for Starlink's jungle-rafting plan?

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#45

Post by xboxnolifes »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #40
qayxc wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that overthinking it big time? Biologically humans have evolved to walk roughly 10-15km a day. You really have to overdo it to get to negative consequences of light physical activities such as walking. Just talking a one hour walk every day surely doesn't get you anywhere near the red zone, provided you're otherwise reasonably healthy.

I am by no means an expert of any kind, but I know several people that seem to have damages their needs by pushing themselves in running or cycling.

Both of which are not walking.

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#46

Post by jtbayly »

seattle_spring wrote: post #33
comfypotato wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s not much science for the ultramarathon folks, but in general more is better. This talk of negative consequences of too much exercise has no grounding in reality.

The people I see that cite the risks of "over exercising" are exclusively people in bad shape. My sister in law, sedentary and textbook obese, insists that running is dangerous for anyone due to the "extra stress it puts on knees." It's just an excuse people use to convince themselves that they're doing the right thing by not moving much. I see it too with people not eating healthy foods like vegetables because they…

I’d guess that starting to run while obese would indeed do substantial damage to the joints.

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#47

Post by dvzk »

BigCryo wrote: post #4

Ain't going to help ...you're going to die anyway.. so best you just move to Brazil and travel to the Amazon River and build a raft and live on it and catch fish and pick fruit and stare up at the stars every night till you get old and decrepit and wonder at the marvelous universe that you were born in until one day you see no more and you feel no more and you are no more.. instead of just striving and working out an…

If anyone thinks this, I sincerely hope you re-evaluate. The difference between doing sports and exercise and doing none is often being disabled or in pain in your 30s and 40s, versus being in near peak physical shape. I meet too many people who assume that debilitation comes with being aged 38-50.

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#48

Post by fwungy »

I've had several fitness trackers that never convinced me I needed to exercise more. But when I paired that with a Constant Glucose Monitor, that made a huge impact.

You don't need to push hard all the time, in fact most of your exercise should be in aerobic mode, very little in anaerobic high bpm range. Getting 45 minutes of moderate movement 4-5x/week will improve your glucose management.

This is important because poor glucose management is a root cause of deterioration. Diabetics are the extreme example, but wild glucose swings are also causing deterioration in non-diabetics.

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#49

Post by exolymph »

pl90087 wrote: post #29

That's not at all what the study "finds". It found a correlation between cardiovascular health and walking a certain amount a week. This does not at all suggest causation. I'm not nitpicking here. The most likely reason for this is that people who have a significantly more healthy life style have better cardiovascular health while also happening to move significantly more. Just getting up and walking 8k steps twice a…

Most likely it's a feedback loop that goes both ways. Generally healthy —> activity is easier and more pleasurable —> exercise makes you healthier —> being healthy makes exercise more viscerally rewarding, and so on.

Re: Walking 8k Steps Twice a Week Could Prolong Your Life, Study Finds

#50

Post by fwungy »

farseer wrote: post #6
anonporridge wrote: post #2

Doctors: It's really important that you regularly exercise. Get your heart rate up high a few times a week with some sports! Doctors: Just 10,000 steps of walking every day is fine too! Doctors: Ok, how about 8,000 steps only once or twice a week. Can you do that? Doctors: For the love of god, please just get off the couch every once in a while...

You joke but perhaps we need to (scientifically) find the minimum number of steps for a reasonable lifespan in tabular form for a given weight, lifestyle, diet, occupation and ethnicity. The law of diminishing returns will apply after a certain amount of physical activity. So will negative consequences of too much exercise where you damage your limbs.

Metabolism is genetic, Diabetes is too. You need to include genetic factors.
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