A new study highlights the powerful health benefits of walking more and at a faster pace for people with high blood pressure, showing a significant reduction in risks of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular problems.
Researchers analyzed data from over 36,000 individuals diagnosed with high blood pressure who wore wrist accelerometers to track their daily walking distance and speed.
The findings, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, reveal that increasing daily steps—even below the commonly suggested 10,000-step goal—and walking faster can substantially lower the chances of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE).
Compared to taking only 2,300 steps a day, adding an extra 1,000 steps was linked to a 17% decrease in the risk of heart attacks, heart failure, or strokes, with benefits continuing up to 10,000 steps. Walking beyond 10,000 steps showed further reduction in stroke risk.
Additionally, faster walking speeds during the 30 minutes of the day when participants walked the fastest correlated with a 30% lower risk of cardiovascular events.
This is especially important as around 1.28 billion people worldwide live with high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. The study confirms that any increase in physical activity, no matter how small, can improve heart and vascular health for those affected.
Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, who led the study, emphasized, “If you have high blood pressure, the more you walk and the faster you walk, the lower your risk for serious heart and blood vessel problems. This supports the idea that even modest walking activity is beneficial.”
Over nearly eight years of follow-up, the research recorded 1,935 cardiovascular events among participants, strengthening the evidence that walking more and faster protects the heart.
These findings encourage people, particularly those with high blood pressure, to incorporate more walking into their daily routine for better cardiovascular health, highlighting that benefits start well below the 10,000-step benchmark and improve with intensity.
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