Scientists have determined the exact amount of time you need to walk each day to add a year to your life expectancy.
Regular exercise has long been known to reduce the risk of serious diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
For this reason, the NHS recommends that all adults do physical activity every day, ideally combining strength training with aerobic exercise, with a goal of 150 minutes a week.
But according to new research, walking just ten minutes once a day could add up to a year to your life expectancy if you’re over 60.
The UK study showed that men benefit more from exercise: a regular walk adds almost 11 months to women’s lives, compared to 16 months for men.
The new study analyzed data from more than 40,000 women and more than 30,000 men, most of them aged 60. Participants did not have to be fit to begin with – the research showed that the benefits were seen in people who were previously inactive.
Currently, only 20 per cent of people aged over 65 meet the NHS target of 150 minutes of exercise a week.
The study showed that additional years of life can also be gained by increasing the duration and intensity of walks.
Walking 30 minutes a day was associated with an additional 16 months of life in women and almost two and a half years in men.
The study analyzed data from more than 40,000 women and more than 30,000 men, mostly around 60 years old.
And participants didn’t have to be fit to begin with: the research showed that the benefits were seen in people who were previously inactive.
University of Leicester physiologist Tom Yates, who led the study, told MailOnline: “We’re not exactly sure why there is a gender difference and we need to do more research in this area.
“The important thing about this study is that we are getting a much more precise impact on the benefits of exercise and that is something we have not seen before.”
He added: “The study showed that everyone benefited from increased exercise, especially people who are currently moderately active.”
Dr Francesco Zaccardi, co-lead author of the study, said: ‘This study adds to the evidence that regular daily physical activity is a powerful determinant of health and longevity.
‘Our hope is that these findings will lead to public health messages promoting the importance of small, regular additions of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity in adults who are currently inactive.
‘We recommend that public health agencies undertake campaigns focusing on ten minutes of brisk walking a day.
“A small change can really make a significant difference.”
Currently, only 20 per cent of people aged over 65 meet the NHS target of 150 minutes of exercise a week.
According to Marcus Davis, an osteopath at London’s Harley Street Back Centre, walking is more beneficial than jogging for people over 50.
He said: ‘Walking helps drain excess fluid from the legs and can help prevent varicose veins through the pumping action of the calf muscles.
‘The increased oxygen supply during exercise also promotes the elimination of waste products from the tissues.
‘And since more people can walk at a steady speed than run, it’s a more beneficial form of tissue cleansing, particularly for those over 50, for whom jogging can actually cause more problems.
‘Walking is also better for the spine than running, as it puts less stress on the discs.
‘However, we were designed for constant movement, not for sitting in cars or in front of computers, which causes negative pressures on our spinal cord.
‘Walking regularly is excellent for the spine, which receives minerals and vitamins through the pumping action it causes.’
According to Marcus Davis, an osteopath at London’s Harley Street Back Centre, walking is more beneficial than jogging for people over 50.
This latest research finding comes after scientists discovered that 10,000 steps a day is not the magic number.
The Medical University of Łódź in Poland and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the United States have found that receiving 4,000 doses regularly is enough to begin to reduce the risk of premature death.
While 2,300 is enough to benefit the heart and blood vessels, scientists found that 4,000 can reduce the risk of premature death by 15 percent.
And then it’s a case of more is more, as every additional 1,000 steps a day further reduces the risk of dying prematurely by 15 percent until the rate of benefit plateaus at 20,000 steps a day.