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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
People who walk for exercise
should aim for a pace of 100
steps per minute to ensure their
workout is intense enough,
according to researchers.
Many people who want to keep fit
use a pedometer to keep track of
how many steps they take.
However, the device gives no
information on how intensely
they're exercising -- that is,
whether their heart rate is
being raised enough to improve
physical fitness.
In the new study, researchers
found that the average walker
should aim for 100 steps per
minute at a minimum in order to
get a moderate-intensity
workout.
Experts recommend that adults
get at least 30 minutes of
moderate activity, five times
per week. If those 30 minutes
are achieved in one session,
that means taking a minimum of
3,000 steps per session.
However, the researchers point
out in the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine, walkers can
also break those steps down into
several shorter exercise
sessions throughout the day.
"Because health benefits can be
achieved with bouts of exercise
lasting at least 10 minutes, a
useful starting point is to try
and accumulate 1,000 steps in 10
minutes, before building up to
3,000 steps in 30 minutes," lead
researcher Dr. Simon J.
Marshall, of San Diego State
University, said in a news
release from the journal.
A simple pedometer and a
wristwatch, he added, offer
walkers a way to ensure they are
working out intensely enough.
The findings are based on
exercise tests given to 97
healthy adults with an average
age of 32. In general, men
needed to walk at a pace of 92
to 102 steps per minute to
achieve a moderately intense
workout for their hearts. The
range for women was between 91
and 115 steps per minute.
"We believe that these data
support a general recommendation
of walking at more than 100
steps per minute on level
terrain to meet the minimum of
the moderate-intensity
guideline," Marshall said.
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