How do you live longer?
Turns out, there’s an easy way to feel happier, lose unwanted weight, and, yes, reduce your risk of dying too early.
New research says that for every 2,000 steps you take each day, your risk for premature death may fall by 8 to 11 percent. This means that if you take a lot of steps each day, your risk for premature death goes down. (Your risk for premature death is the chance that you will die before you are supposed to.)
In a related study, the researchers found that walking 10,000 steps a day had many benefits. These include a reduction in cardiovascular disease. This includes heart disease, stroke, and heart failure. But not only that, they reduced 13 types of cancer and dementia.
Combined, both studies involved about 78,500 people. All the participants were middle age and older. They wore a device on their wrist to measure physical activity. The researchers monitored their health for a median of seven years.
Taking 10,000 steps daily (roughly four to five miles, depending on a person’s stride) has become a common health and fitness goal.
But there’s good news for those who struggle to reach that goal every day.
While dementia risk drops by about 50 percent at 9,800 steps per day, it drops by 25 percent at 3,800.
So getting up and walking… works.
But, to quote the late Billy Mays… But wait! There’s more!
Not only is walking good for you but walking faster or with more intensity has even more health benefits. Walking faster decreases the risk of dementia, heart disease, cancer, and early death.
How do you live longer? Make sure to get up, walk around often, and try walking as fast as possible!
Your Beginner 6-Week “How do You Live Longer, Feel Happier, and Lose Weight” Walking Plan
Here’s a sample beginner “How to Live Longer, Lose Weight and Feel Happy” walking plan
Week 1
Get outside with a quick 10-minute walk. Your goal here is to walk 5 days a week. The goal of week 1 and week 2 is to build a habit. With that in mind, consistency is key.
Daily goal, 10 minutes. Weekly goal, 50 minutes.
Week 2
Bump up your daily walk by five minutes. You should now be hitting 15 minutes daily, five days a week. If you feel good on a particular day, you can go for longer. Just don’t replace a day with a longer walk. We’re still in habit-building mode, so getting in the five days is the most important part.
Daily goal, 15 minutes. Weekly goal, 60 minutes.
Week 3
Now we are out of the habit phase. I’m going to challenge you a little. Drop back to 10 minutes a walk, but walk 20 minutes daily.
So, for example, for your morning break, get out, and walk for 10 minutes. Then, at lunch, or your afternoon break, walk 10 more minutes. Or even maybe in the evening, go for a 10-minute walk with your kids, family, or a group of friends.
Daily goal, 20 minutes (10 minutes x 2). Weekly goal, 100 minutes.
Week 4
We are going to keep it simple here and repeat Week 3. Be consistent and be proud of your new habit. We’re closing in on the one-month mark. And you should already be feeling happier, healthier, and lighter! Congratulations!
Daily goal, 20 minutes (10 minutes x 2). Weekly goal, 100 minutes.
Week 5
Add one more short 5-minute walk. This will take us to 3 walks per day – 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes.
When you break up your walking, you get many of the benefits of interval training. But you’re also eliminating excuses. I agree that it’s hard to find a 30-minute block of time during the day. But finding a 10-minute block here or there is easy peasy.
Daily goal, 25 minutes (10 minutes x 2, 5 minutes x 1). Weekly goal, 125 minutes.
Week 6
Ok, we’re at the end of our 6-week “How do You Live Longer, Feel Happier, and Lose Weight” walking plan.
And we’re going for 30 minutes a day. Add 5 minutes to your 5-minute walk.
We’re now walking 10 minutes per session, 3 times per day.
Daily goal, 30 minutes (10 minutes x 3). Weekly goal, 125 minutes.
Now, the average person can cover 2000 steps (about 1 mile) in roughly 20 minutes. So by week 6, you should be adding 3000 steps to your daily routine. And significantly cutting your risk of premature death.
Back when I went into the office, I would park about a 15-minute walk away each day. That forced me to get in two 15-minute walks at least. I’d get one more at lunchtime, and I was golden.
Now, I don’t have the 30-minute commute, so I replace that ‘drive time’ with ‘thrive time.’ I get in a few walks a day. It gets me the fresh air, the sunshine, and it does great things for my mood.
I feel happier. And that’s the first domino that needs to fall if you want to lose weight and live longer.
Once again, how do you live longer? Fall Passion Pit’s advice and take a walk!
Last Updated on August 11, 2023 by Metabolic Mayhem Staff
