I love to walk. Back when I lived in DC, I’d spend hours on weekends just getting lost in the city with my camera, capturing whatever caught my eye. Those long, meandering walks were never about hitting a step goal; they were about exploring and discovering. Turns out all those hours of wandering were doing way more for my health than I realized.
Two recent studies offer encouraging news about movement and how it protects us, and the takeaway is that how and when you move matter less than moving itself.
One study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology tracked over 100,000 adults and found that people who took a single long walk each day had better cardiovascular outcomes than those who spread their steps across multiple shorter walks. Even when the total daily step count was the same, concentrating physical activity into a single session was linked to a lower risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.
Meanwhile, a University of Gothenburg study followed over 4,000 Swedish women for 20 years and found something even more encouraging: any movement, no matter how light, can significantly reduce stroke risk. Women who were physically active had a 58% lower risk of stroke compared to inactive women. The key? The activity didn’t need to be intense. Housework, gardening, casual walking—it all counted and helped.
Since moving back here, I don’t get much chance to walk around like I used to. I miss it. But these studies remind me there’s no single “right” way to be active. Whether it’s one long walk or staying gently active throughout the day, consistent movement, in whatever form works for you, is what protects your heart and brain.