Walking: Could it make your brain younger?
Medical experts have long stressed that physical activity can make you happier and healthier – and that engaging in regular exercise like running can increase your cardiovascular fitness, develop your muscular strength, finesse your cognitive performance, enhance your sense of wellbeing and much more.
But now, a new study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine has found that you don’t have to run hard, fast or far in order to give your health a decent boost. Instead, according to researchers, completing even daily tasks like walking and household chores can help you – and your brain – to stay young.
This is particularly positive news for those who are building up to running with walking, or looking to lead a generally more active life. But how might walking slow down ageing? And how can you do more steps in a day? Here’s what to know.
What did the study find?
For the study, which was published in October, researchers had 204 participants answer a small number of questions on their phones each day, for a nine-day period. Over the course of the study, the subjects checked in and reported back six times a day – which is about every 3.5 hours.
When reporting back, participants shared whether or not they had been physically active since their last check-in. If so, they ranked their physical exercise as light, moderate or vigorous. (For context, walking was considered a ‘light’ activity, while running was considered ‘vigorous’.) After that, the participants were asked to play two brain games which looked at their cognitive processing speed and working memory.
The researchers found that when the participants were physically active – even lightly – between check-ins, they had cognitive processing speeds equivalent to someone four years younger.
Does walking slow down cognitive decline?
Since we are only looking at one study, it is hard to say that this is definitely the case. However, the new research does suggest that doing any kind of light exercise regularly, such as walking or doing housework, could give your brain a consistent boost – and this may help to keep it young.
‘Our findings suggest that engaging in everyday physical activity of any intensity level may have short-term, acute benefits for cognitive health and point to new potential targets for intervention,’ concluded the researchers.
Jonathan Hakun, one of the study’s researchers and an assistant professor of neurology and psychology at the Penn State College of Medicine, added that everyday movement like walking ‘may have some direct impact on cognitive health’.
What are the health benefits of walking?
As with running, you can reap a wealth of health rewards when you make walking a regular part of your daily routine.
For a start, it’s a highly accessible form of cardiovascular exercise that is doable for most people. That said, walking is still a weight-baring activity, which can help to promote healthy bone density and mobility.
Various studies have also concluded that walking can help to lift your mood, improve your heart health and lower your risk of developing diabetes and other chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease. In fact, research has found that a person lowers their systolic blood pressure (the number at the top) by about 0.45 points for every 1,000 steps that they take each day. Meanwhile, another study purports that walking may help you to live longer.
How can I add more walking into my day?
The best way to do more walking is to simply aim to increase your step count – and you may be pleased to know that you don’t have to bash out a huge amount of walking all at once. Rather, you can still benefit from doing smaller blocks of walking and light activity throughout the day, whether that involves taking the stairs or walking rather than driving to the shops or a friend’s house. You can even just go for a short walk in the morning or evening to try to get in some extra steps.
If you struggle to get outside each day, then you can still increase your step count indoors. You can walk on a treadmill (they aren’t exclusively designed for running) if you have access to one at home or a nearby gym, or get yourself a walking pad. Easy to squeeze under a work station, walking pads help you to stay active during the working day if you otherwise find yourself sat, probably slumped, at a desk.
A common and popular goal is to walk – or indeed run – 10,000 steps a day, and we have some expert-led tips on how to walk your way to this daily milestone. Ultimately, though, just do your best – as this new study points out, any activity is good for your brain.
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