- New research finds a link between walking faster and a lower risk of early death in people who log fewer than 5,000 steps a day.
- People who racked up more steps but moved at a slower pace also saw their risk of early death drop.
- The findings offer practical advice for people, regardless of their activity level.
Adding a regular walk to your day can be a great way to lower your risk of developing a slew of serious health conditions. But hitting your daily step goal isn’t exactly easy, thanks to work, busy schedules, and life in general.
So what if there were a way to reap all those health benefits of extra steps by…walking less? New research suggests this may be the case: Simply walking faster can help keep you healthy, even when you can’t get in as many steps as you’d like.
The study, which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, analyzed data from 64,743 people who wore activity trackers on their wrists for seven consecutive days. The researchers specifically focused on their daily step count, along with their peak 30-minute cadence, or the average number of steps per minute taken during the 30 highest minutes of walking in a day.
From there, they divided the participants into four groups: Those who walked fewer than 5,000 steps a day, those who logged 5,000 to 7,500 steps, those who walked 7,500 to 10,000 steps, and people who did more than 10,000 daily steps.
The researchers found that people who took fewer than 5,000 steps a day but hit a peak cadence of at least 80 steps per minute had a 28% lower risk of death during the eight-year follow-up compared to their slower counterparts. That put them on par with people who logged 5,000 to 7,500 steps a day but walked at a slower speed of about 60 steps per minute—showing that there could be a longevity benefit to both more intense walking at a lesser volume as well as less intense walking but at a higher volume.
The group that fared the best was those who walked 7,500 to 10,000 steps a day at any speed. (The lowest risk was in people who walked about 100 steps per minute.)
“Premature all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality might be prevented through different combinations of stepping intensity and step counts,” the researchers wrote in the study’s conclusion.
Meet the experts: Nikhil Satchidanand, Ph.D., an assistant professor of exercise physiology at University at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Kevin Shah, M.D., cardiologist and program director of Heart Failure Outreach at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, CA; Navjot Sobti, M.D., interventional cardiologist and women’s health expert, Northwell’s Northern Westchester Hospital and the Katz Institute for Women’s Health.
The findings provide a pretty clear framework of how much and how fast to walk to lower your risk of premature death, no matter your available time. But doctors say they don’t suggest that everyone needs to start speed-walking to stave off an early death. Here’s why.
Why can walking at a faster pace lower the risk of early death?
It’s important to point out that the study just found a link between fewer steps at a faster pace and a lower risk of early death—it didn’t prove that the walking pace was responsible for the drop in risk. Still, doctors say there’s something to this.
“As we pick up the pace, our muscles need more oxygen, the heart must pump more blood, and the cardiovascular and respiratory systems work harder to meet that demand,” says Nikhil Satchidanand, Ph.D., an assistant professor of exercise physiology at University at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. When you do this over time, it can improve your cardiorespiratory fitness, vascular function, metabolic health, and your body’s ability to tolerate physical stress, he says. “These are all factors closely associated with long-term health and survival,” Satchidanand says.
Moving at a faster pace can also improve insulin sensitivity, which is how well your body’s cells respond to a hormone that regulates blood sugar, says Kevin Shah, M.D., cardiologist and program director of Heart Failure Outreach at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, CA.
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The findings are a good reminder that step count isn’t the only thing to consider on walks, Dr. Shah says. “Even if someone takes fewer steps, increasing the intensity of those steps may provide meaningful health benefits,” he says.
Why might walking more, but at a slower pace be helpful, too?
This is one of the “more encouraging findings” from the research, according to Satchidanand. “Walking faster provides a greater physiological challenge per minute, but walking more provides a greater total volume of physical activity,” he says.
When you walk for longer periods of time, you spend more time moving, training the large muscles of your legs, increasing energy burn, and improving circulation, Satchidanand explains. This also replaces time that you might have otherwise spent sitting.
Walking more, but at a slower pace, can also be a good way for someone who isn’t currently exercising to start, Dr. Shah says. “Simply walking more, even at a comfortable pace, can provide meaningful benefits,” he says. “As fitness improves, they can gradually increase their pace or intensity if they are able to do so safely.”
How many daily steps should you aim for?
That’s up for debate. While 10,000 steps is the number people regularly cite for good health, it’s a little arbitrary. The number was originally created by a Japanese doctor named Iwao Ohya who created a fitness tracker called Manpo-Kei, which means “10,000 step meter” in Japanese. (It’s been suggested that 10,000 steps was chosen because the Japanese character for this looks like a person walking or running.)
This number was eventually picked up by fitness tracker developers and researchers, and took off from there.
While this study looked at a lowered risk of early death based on how many steps people took and the pace of their walking, a 2025 data analysis published in The Lancet Public Health found that participants had a significant drop in their risk of developing chronic disease and early death when they walked between 5,000 and 7,000 steps a day compared to those who had low activity levels. The benefits continued at higher step counts, but at a slower rate of improvement.
What’s the takeaway?
It’s easy to interpret the findings as suggesting that you need to walk faster, but doctors say that’s not universally true. “Think of pace and step count as two different levers for heart health,” says Navjot Sobti, M.D., interventional cardiologist and women’s health expert at Northwell’s Northern Westchester Hospital and the Katz Institute for Women’s Health. “If you cannot walk longer, try walking a little faster. If you cannot walk faster, focus on walking a little farther or more often. Both approaches can move you in the right direction.”
If you’re already walking regularly and can safely pick up the pace, he says that adding brisk walking may be a way to push your body and fitness a little more. If you have trouble walking at a faster pace, adding more steps at a comfortable pace “still appears to be valuable,” Satchidanand says.
“Importantly, intensity is personal,” he continues. “A brisk pace for one person may be very challenging for someone else. You don’t need to chase a particular speed. Think about walking with enough purpose that your breathing increases a bit and you can tell your body is working harder.”
Dr. Shah also says that the findings are a good reminder to do your best to move regularly. “More movement is better than less movement, and you don’t have to walk quickly for every step to count,” he says.
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