"Walk a hundred steps after dinner, live to ninety-nine", this old saying is widely spread, Aunt Zhang is also convinced of this, her happiest thing every day is to go out for a walk with her wife after dinner, she believes that this can not only strengthen the body, but also a good way to enjoy life in old age.
Originally, it was their norm to walk slowly, but recently my wife always urged her to walk faster, saying that walking slowly is not good for the body, and studies have said that walking fast and slow is related to cardiovascular disease.
Is what Aunt Zhang's wife said right? How to walk to get healthier and healthier? Let's take a closer look.
1. Go slowly, be careful of cardiovascular disease "catching" you!
When it comes to walking for the elderly, everyone may want to ask them to walk slowly and carefully, but a study in New Zealand found that people who walk slowly are more likely to age in their physical functions, including language ability, cardiovascular, respiratory system, etc.
A research team in the United Kingdom conducted a study on the walking habits of more than 420,000 people, and they excluded the influence of bad lifestyle habits such as smoking and alcoholism.
• For older people in particular, people who walk slowly have a higher risk of heart disease than those who walk fast, and the risk of death from heart disease is as much as doubled.
A new mainland study of China's health and retirement longitudinal survey found that fast walking is associated with a lower risk of hypertension, especially among obese older people.
This may be because when a person walks briskly, the body needs more oxygen and nutrients to meet the needs of exercise, which makes the heart "draw blood" more powerfully. However, some friends may worry that this will increase the workload of the heart, but in fact, this temporary increase in load will help strengthen the heart muscle and enhance heart function.
In addition, brisk walking can also lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure, which helps prevent the formation of blood clots, so people who walk briskly regularly have a stronger cardiovascular system and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
2. Is it good to walk regularly? Study: As long as you move, you have a lower risk of death than sedentary people
Walking and exercising more helps physical health, which is a common saying, but there are also elderly people who feel that they are older, and they should avoid less exercise and less walking, worrying that frequent walking will cause damage to their legs, feet and bones. So, is it good to walk regularly?
In 2022, researchers in the United States published a paper showing that walking more is the most effective and easiest way to be healthy. The study data shows that:
• Walking for about 15 minutes a day can effectively reduce the risk of death by 22%.
That said, just by moving, you may live longer than if you are sedentary, and here are some specific benefits:
1. Improve cardiovascular health
Walking, especially brisk walking, is an aerobic exercise that strengthens the heart, blood vessels and lungs, helps to increase the heart's pumping capacity and promotes heart health. In addition, regular walking also helps to control and regulate blood pressure, and blood vessels will dilate during walking, which can maintain blood pressure balance to a certain extent.
2. Exercise skeletal muscles
Walking is not only good for cardiovascular health, but it also helps to strengthen muscles and bones, and during walking, lower limb muscles such as thigh, calf and hip muscles need to work together to support body weight and push forward, thus building muscle strength and endurance and reducing the risk of fractures.
Therefore, for people with joint problems or trauma, if you insist on regular walking, you can better maintain the health of muscles and bones, and improve the stability and function of the body.
3. Promote digestion and improve metabolism
During walking, our body's digestive organs will be slightly stimulated, thereby accelerating gastrointestinal peristalsis, promoting digestion and absorption, and ultimately reducing constipation. At the same time, walking can increase the metabolic rate, allowing the body to expend energy more efficiently.
4. Improve cognitive ability
Regular walking can also promote blood circulation in the brain, provide more oxygen and nutrients, which helps to promote the growth of brain cells, improve memory, learning ability and cognitive function, which is more important for middle-aged and elderly people. A team of researchers in New Zealand followed volunteers for 40 years and found that:
• Walking helps improve the cognitive function of the brain, and walking speed is closely related to the thickness of the cerebral cortex, and people who walk slowly not only have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, but also have worse cognitive performance and are more likely to develop dementia.
The research team at the University of California also concluded through experiments that women older than 65 years old will have a 33% lower risk of dementia if they walk an extra 1,865 steps a day, and an extra 30 minutes of exercise a day may reduce the risk of dementia by 21%.
3. If you want to take a walk to become healthy, how to walk is very important, pay attention to these 4 points!
Many elderly friends may say that they walk a lot, and they will have leg pain and knee pain, so they don't want to walk, let alone walk quickly. In fact, if you want to walk more and more healthily, how to walk is the most important, and the following precautions must be collected!
1. It is best to control the number of walking steps at 6,000 steps per day
First of all, the number of steps you walk is crucial for the effectiveness of your workout, and the number of steps reflects the intensity and consistency of your exercise, which directly affects the effectiveness of your aerobic workout. A Danish study of older adults with an average age of 61 years found that:
• Older people who walk around 3,800 steps a day reduce the risk of dementia by 25%, and when they take 9,800 steps, the risk is reduced by 51%, but the risk does not continue to decrease beyond 9,800 steps.
The final study showed that the risk of dementia was most effective when the number of steps per day was around 6,000 steps, which was reduced by about 57%.
Coincidentally, a study by the American Heart Association found that the risk of cardiovascular disease may also be significantly reduced if the number of steps per day is about 6,000 steps in the elderly over 60 years old. It can be seen that it is recommended that people over 60 years old insist on walking 6,000 steps a day, not too much.
2. Walking speed is also important
As mentioned in the above introduction, when walking, if the walking speed is too slow, it may accelerate the aging of the body's functions, so maintaining a certain walking frequency during the walking process can better exercise the cardiopulmonary function, and the effect of brisk walking exercise is better. Generally speaking, when walking, I feel a little wheezing, but it does not affect the speed of normal speech, that is, I can just walk briskly and exercise.
Walking speed was also studied in the Danish study, which found that walking at a speed of 112 steps per minute reduced the risk of developing dementia by 62%. However, this is not applicable to everyone, friends who are unwell or have joint injuries should reduce their speed appropriately, and the normal walking speed can be controlled at 1.3 meters per second.
3. Don't walk barefoot on gravel paths
Many people like to change their bare feet to walk on gravel roads, especially cobblestone roads, which can play a role in foot massage, but for elderly friends, it is not recommended to do so. Because the gravel pavement is uneven, it is easy to cause injuries, wear or scratches on the soles of the feet, and eventually cause infection.
In addition, people with flat feet may not be able to get good protection and cushioning when walking on the important parts of the soles of the feet such as nerves and blood vessels on the gravel road due to the low arch of the foot, which will make the skin elasticity of the soles of the feet worse and easy to cause soft tissue contusions.
4. Be careful not to walk quickly after a meal
Middle-aged and elderly people can take more walks after dinner, but do not walk briskly immediately after eating, because when eating, blood is mainly concentrated in the digestive organs to help break down food and absorb nutrients. If vigorous brisk walking or other exercise is performed immediately after a meal, the blood will be redistributed to the muscles and locomotor organs, which will reduce digestion efficiency and lead to indigestion.
It is advisable to take a moderate break after a meal, and then go for a walk about 30 minutes to 1 hour after the meal, which can promote the smooth digestion of food and reduce the risk of heartburn, gas or indigestion.
Doctor's summary:
Walking is a wholesome activity for older adults, but there are some important things to be aware of.
First of all, the number of walking steps should be appropriate, it is recommended that the elderly over 60 years old insist on walking 6000 steps a day, and secondly, walking speed is also very important, moderate brisk walking exercise is better, but not too intense, in order to protect the health of the joint and cardiovascular system. Also, avoid walking barefoot on gravel paths to protect the soles of your feet from injury.
Finally, do not do strenuous exercise immediately after meals, leave a period of rest to promote the digestion of food, the elderly should enjoy the benefits of walking, maintain health, improve the quality of life, and let us move towards a healthy old age together.
bibliography
[1] People who walk slowly age faster and have a higher risk of heart disease, Leading Research, 2022.01
[2] Slow walking speed, may age faster, and be more susceptible to dementia: 40 years of data reveal health risks in walking speed, Leading Research, 2019.10
[3] Walking promotes brain health, step count and speed are key! "Lingyan" 2022.10
[4] Association of Neurocognitive and Physical Function With Gait Speed in Midlife 《JAMA Network Open》 2019.10
Studies have found that 1,865 more steps per day in elderly women are associated with a 33% lower risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia Daily Medical Information 2023.02
[6] Walking every day can also "go" cardiovascular disease, but you need to reach 6000 steps to do it, Daily Medical Information, 2023.10