Getting 10,000 steps a day is a popular fitness goal for millions of people.
But a less time-consuming alternative may be more effective when it comes to losing weight, if new research is to be believed.
A study suggests that incorporating ‘micro walks’ into your day could help burn more calories than slow walking.
Italian scientists, who tracked the movements of 10 healthy adults, found that walking in bursts of 10 to 30 seconds consumed up to 60 percent more energy than covering the same distance in one go.
The results showed that “breaking sedentary time with short walks” could “considerably increase the energy expended daily and improve health,” the experts said.
Italian scientists, who tracked the movements of 10 healthy adults, found that walking in bursts of 10 to 30 seconds consumed up to 60 percent more energy than walking the same distance in one go.
Francesco Luciano, a physiology expert at the University of Milan and lead author of the study, said: “When we walk in shorter periods, we use more energy and consume more oxygen to cover the same distance.
“We discovered that when you start from rest, a significant amount of oxygen is consumed just to start walking.
“It’s like having a car that consumes more fuel during the first few kilometers than later.”
In the study, researchers monitored volunteers as they exercised on a stair climber and treadmill.
The exercises covered three different speeds with bouts lasting from 10 seconds to four minutes.
The scientists then recorded how much oxygen each person consumed and calculated the metabolic demands of each walk.
They found that more energy was needed at the beginning of each walk, to get going and warm up the body, than later in the exercise, when the body was already moving.
writing in the diary Proceedings of the Royal Society BThey added: “The message applies to our daily lives: whenever possible, we should interrupt periods of sitting by taking a few steps.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise.
Sedentary lifestyles in the UK, in which Britons spend their working hours sitting at a desk and then sitting on a train or car on the way home to sit in front of the TV, are estimated to kill thousands of people each year.
A 2019 estimate puts the annual death toll at 70,000 people a year and the health problems caused cost the NHS £700 million each year to treat.
A 2018 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study estimated that nearly one in 10 (8.3 percent) of adult deaths in the U.S. were caused by physical inactivity.
The WHO puts the annual global death toll from physical inactivity at around 2 million per year, placing it among the top 10 causes of death and disability globally.
Physical inactivity has long been linked to health problems such as cardiovascular disease, as well as contributing to health problems such as obesity, which in turn is linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.
Cardiovascular diseases are generally associated with the buildup of fatty deposits within the arteries that can cause dangerous blockages that can trigger a heart attack or stroke.
Stokes are considered a leading cause of death and disability in the UK, killing around 38,000 people a year and leaving many more disabled.