Recent studies show that if we walk slowly, even with plenty of rests, there are powerful long-term benefits for us, despite how much fast walking is lauded.
American researchers used trackers to follow 150 women through pregnancy and early motherhood. When they tested their breast milk they discovered that the more steps they took, the more they produced a compound called 3’-SL. If a baby consumes milk rich in 3’-SL, it reduces their lifelong risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and obesity. It also increases improves a baby’s capacity to learn, focus and remember. The researchers also noticed that the intensity of the walking wasn’t that important, but rather a slow daily walk was enough to trigger the production of 3’_SL.
For older people who find it harder to walk, adapting the way they walk is better than giving up. A study following 36000 adults over 40 for almost 6 years recorded the type, amount and frequency of exercise they took. The results showed that any level of activity was associated with a substantially lower risk of death. We just need one slow walk a day.
Sports scientists say that perseverance is vital and that anyone can manage a slow walk, even people with injuries. The key is to adapt the way you walk.
Sitting for as little as an hour cuts blood flow through the legs to the heart by up to 50%, affecting cholesterol levels and jeopardising heart and metabolic health. However, a slow 5-minute walk every hour reverses the damage.
At Maastricht University they studied 18 students and those who walked slowly for longer had much lower cholesterol and triglycerides and healthier insulin levels compared to those who cycled intensely for short periods but spent the rest of the time sitting at a desk. The conclusion is that the most important thing is to avoid the amount of time we spend sitting.
For overweight people, a longer slow walk help burn more calories and put less pressure on joints than faster walk. Another study showed that for people of middle age, distance (around 8000 steps at any pace and with plenty of rests) is more important than intensity as it means a dramatic difference in whether you live or die.
Slow walking has other benefits: generating new ideas, after-dinner digestion, as it allows us to engage paced breathing (deep slow breaths from the diaphragm taken at half our normal rate of breathing (around seven breaths a minute). Paced breathing is calming and lowers heart rate and blood pressure. It’s believed to stimulate the vagus nerve which reduces stress chemicals in the brain, relaxing and widening the muscle cells lining our veins and arteries, enabling blood to flow more freeling.
Some tips for slow walking:
Check with your doctor if you are injured before starting to walk.
Avoid polluted areas.
Walk among greenery as studies show that walking for up to two hours once or over several walks a week in green spaces improves mental and physical health. There were no benefits for spending less than two hours a week.
Source: 52 Ways to Walk: Annabel Streets – Bloomsbury Publishing