{"id":35687,"date":"2025-07-25T06:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T06:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/35687\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T06:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T06:39:13","slug":"micro-walks-could-boost-your-health-new-study-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/35687\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Micro-Walks’ Could Boost Your Health, New Study Suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, doctors have stressed the importance of being active during your day\u2014after all, research has found that sitting for too long raises your risk of a slew of serious health conditions, including cardiovascular disease <\/a>and type 2 diabetes<\/a>. But the idea of going for hour-long walks<\/a> can be overwhelming. Now, new research suggests you don\u2019t need to jam in a massive stroll into each day: Instead, you can go for \u201cmicro-walks.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the main takeaway from a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B<\/a>, which found that micro-walks may be even better for you than long ones. Here\u2019s the deal. <\/p>\n

Interested in making walks part of your regular fitness routine? Check out the exclusive WH+ 4-Week Walking Plan<\/a> that burns fat and builds muscle at the same time. <\/p>\n

What are \u2018micro-walks\u2019?<\/p>\n

In this study, a \u201cmicro-walk\u201d is defined as walking between 10 and 30 seconds at a time (with breaks in between your next walk). <\/p>\n

Are \u2018micro-walks\u2019 more beneficial for your health? Why?<\/p>\n

It depends on how you\u2019re looking at it. In this particular study, volunteers walked on a treadmill or climbed a short flight of stairs for different periods of time, ranging from 10 seconds to four minutes. The study participants wore masks to measure their oxygen intake (which can be used to calculate energy or calorie<\/a> consumption). <\/p>\n

The researchers discovered that people who walked in short bursts used up to 60 per cent more energy than longer ones, despite the walks covering the same distance. (The more energy you expend, the more calories you can burn.)<\/p>\n

Basically, you may be able to rev up your metabolism<\/a> and burn more calories if you do short bursts of walking versus longer cruises around.
<\/p>\n

Albert Matheny<\/a>, RD, CSCS, a co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab<\/a>, says there\u2019s something to this. \u201cGetting activity throughout the day, in general, is better for people,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s better for circulation, mental health, and digestive health.\u201d <\/p>\n

You\u2019re also more likely to have a faster pace when you do shorter bursts of walking than if you\u2019re going on, say, a five-mile walk, he points out. <\/p>\n

How many steps should I get per day?<\/p>\n

This is debatable, and research has shown<\/a> that the often-quoted 10,000 steps a day<\/a> may not be necessary. Instead, 7,500 steps or so is ideal\u2014but everyone is different. <\/p>\n

More On Walking<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve already been walking, Matheny says that aiming for 10,000 steps a day is great. But if not or if you don\u2019t have many opportunities to walk during your day, 7,500 steps may be a better goal.
<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about doing what you can,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019re not a big walker and you think, \u2018I don\u2019t want to walk five miles,\u2019 then just do 30-second bursts. It\u2019s more attainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men\u2019s Health, Women\u2019s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master\u2019s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For years, doctors have stressed the importance of being active during your day\u2014after all, research has found that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[872,29299,874,982,97,873,29298],"class_list":["post-35687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-841f756d-3d66-455e-ae3d-f6bdc0dfad01","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-health","tag-locale-us","tag-shorttitle-why-micro-walks-are-strong-health-boosters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}