“Challenge of 8,000 daily steps in 2024”

2023-12-05 11:06:30

“Walking, walking and running, like swimming or pedaling, all in the right measure according to the age and medical situation of each person, is and will always be good for the health of our body, even more so for the cardiovascular system,” highlights the Dr. Carlos Macaya Miguel

Heart News: “Challenge of 8,000 daily steps in 2024”

“Even this daily habit is wonderful for a cardiologist like me,” emphasizes the emeritus professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid, specialist at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital and the Interhospital Foundation for Cardiovascular Research (FIC).

In May 2023, a study by the American Heart Association, published in its journal “Circulation”, insisted, like others previously, that a brisk walk of twenty minutes a day It was enough to help the heart, thus reducing cardiovascular risks.

“These twenty minutes correspond to a walking frequency of 7,000 to 9,000 steps, more or less; but an average of 8,000 steps It is a correct figure to meet,” indicates the Spanish cardiologist.

The American Heart Association measured the cardiovascular health and risks of different population groups based on eight factors: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, body mass index, smoking, physical activity, sleep and diet.

According to the study, the population groups that practice less exercise are older adults, women, depressed people, disabled people, people of lower socioeconomic status and those who live in rural areas.

“These people have a higher risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases and consequently higher mortality,” confirms Dr. Carlos Macaya.

How many energetic steps should we take through the streets, through an urban park or along country paths?

Physical exercise helps the entire cardiovascular system, from the heart muscle and its cavities to the main coronary arteries and the most hidden veins: “Keeping in shape is always positive,” emphasizes Dr. Macaya.

“It even promotes the most appropriate heart rate and the volume of oxygenated blood fluid that flows through our body,” he adds.

Obviously, this physical activity, recommended and advised for all citizens, even provided for patients with cardiovascular diseases, must be adjusted depending on age and individual physical capacity.

“There is no valid or invalid number of steps,” he says, “and there is no uniform or standard pace of walking for the entire population. A young woman is not the same as a sixty-year-old woman or another woman with a certain disability,” she exemplifies.

“Logically, if the number of steps is 14,000 or 16,000, instead of 8,000, the benefit for cardiovascular health will also be greater,” he says.

“What’s more, if instead of walking at a calm, slow pace, we increase said pace, going from doing a kilometer in fifteen minutes to doing it in just ten minutes, cardiovascular performance will be superior,” he adds.

Walking and running are measures contrary to a sedentary lifestyle, which is associated with a higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Even more so if the person smokes and is overweight or obese.

“We would talk about hypertension and metabolic diseases, such as bad cholesterol or diabetes. These people buy many lottery tickets to suffer angina, a heart attack, a stroke, even sudden death,” recalls Dr. Macaya.

In conclusion, walking and strolling at a good pace is the best advice that a cardiologist can offer to enhance cardiovascular health.

We must impose on ourselves the habit of walking around 8,000 steps a day at the best possible pace.

Now we also have digital watches and mobile devices that help us count the steps taken, the distance traveled and the time we have spent getting from one point to another on the journey.

And by the way, walking and strolling do not require special clothing, just motivation and being aware of the cardiovascular benefit and our health in general.

Dr. Carlos Macaya Miguel, doctor of our heart