Want to keep your heart in rhythm? Lace up your sneakers. A new study suggests that picking up the pace on your daily stroll could be your ticket to a healthier heartbeat.
Heart, a sister publication of the British Medical Journal, reveals that walking at a moderate to brisk pace (around 4.8 to 6.4 km/h) could significantly lower your risk of heart rhythm problems like atrial fibrillation, tachycardia, and bradycardia.
Professor Jill Pell and her team at the University of Glasgow tracked over 420,925 participants from the UK Biobank for an average of 13 years. They even used wearable activity trackers on about 81,956 participants to measure their exact walking speed and duration.
About 6.5% (27,877 people) were slow walkers, moving at less than 4.8 km/h; the majority, 53% (221,664 people), walked at an average pace of 4.8 to 6.4 km/h; and around 41% (171,384 people) were brisk walkers, clocking in at over 6.4 km/h. Over the course of the study, 36,574 participants developed some form of heart rhythm abnormality.
After adjusting for lifestyle factors, the results were clear. Brisk walkers had a 43% lower risk of arrhythmias than slow walkers, and average-paced walkers had a 35% lower risk.
The benefits were even more striking for specific heart issues, as atrial fibrillation risk dropped by 46% among brisk walkers and by 38% among average-paced walkers. Other types of arrhythmias saw similar reductions of 39% and 21%, respectively.
Among the 81,956 people whose walking speed and time were measured using an activity tracker, 4,117 developed arrhythmia, and the risk of arrhythmia in the average or fast-paced group was found to be 27% lower than in the slow-paced group.
Interestingly, metabolic and inflammatory factors could explain about 36% of the link between faster walking and heart health. Certain groups, such as women, people under 60, non-obese individuals, and those with chronic conditions, seemed to benefit even more from a brisker pace.
While the researchers caution that this observational study cannot prove cause and effect, it highlights how walking habits might influence heart health through metabolic and inflammatory pathways.
So, picking up the pace on your daily walk could be an easy, safe, and highly effective way to keep your heart beating strong, especially if you are at higher risk for arrhythmias.
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