Extra Walking Can Lengthen Your Life

Less than the recommended 150 minutes a week will still help

By Robert Preidt
HealthDay Reporter

That evening stroll you take after dinner most nights may be doing you more good than you realize -- new research suggests even a bit of regular walking can reduce your risk of death. Regular walking is telling your body that you still have things to do and that your not ready to lay down and die. 
Walking has been described as the 'perfect exercise' because it is simple, free, convenient, doesn't require any special equipment or training, and can be done at any age. I see people "mall walking" in the early morning with a cane and some even with a walker. Too much sitting will put your body into hibernation mode and you stop burning calories.  
Don't give-up because you can't keep up with the others. I had knee pain when I was in my 60's but because I lost body fat and increased my walking today I have no knee pain and I'm off those pain killers. I can even run with no trouble. I'm 73 now and feel like I'm 20 years younger. Doctors can only help you to live with your condition. Your condition won't change unless you change it.
Previous research has linked regular walking with a lower risk of heart diseasediabetes, and breast and colon cancers. However, many American adults don't get the recommended levels of walking or other types of exercise. The recommended amounts are at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity a week.
In this study, researchers examined data from nearly 140,000 American adults. Of those, 95 percent said they did some walking. Nearly half said walking was their only form of moderate-vigorous physical activity.
The researchers adjusted the data to account for other factors that could affect the risk of death, such as smoking, obesity and chronic health problems.
After those adjustments, the researchers concluded that people whose only exercise was walking less than two hours per week had a lower risk of death from any cause than those who did no physical activity.
Those who did one to two times the minimum amount of recommended weekly exercise (2.5 to 5 hours) by only walking had a 20 percent lower risk of death. The risk of death was similar among those who exceeded activity recommendations through only walking.
Walking was most strongly associated with reduced risk of death from respiratory diseases -- about a 35 percent lower risk for those who walked more than six hours a week than those who were least active.
Walking was also associated with about 20 percent lower risk of death from heart disease. People who only walked also had a 9 percent lower risk of death from cancer, the study authors said.

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