A healthy lifestyle consists of several elements: a balanced diet, a stop to smoking, regular physical activity and an active life, avoiding a sedentary lifestyle.

Regular and structured physical activity should, in fact, go hand in hand with a strategy of combating sedentariness, through daily choices, even simple ones, that lead us to move more.

As Professor Daniela Lucini, Head of Exercise Medicine at Humanitas, explains: “International guidelines speak of a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate aerobic physical activity. One of the recommended activities, because it is practical, economical and within everyone’s reach, is walking. Walking is also a very useful tool for cardiovascular and oncological prevention, for example”.

 

Are the famous 10 thousand steps a day enough?

“We have often heard about the 10 thousand steps a day: this indication is valid as an initial objective, to combat sedentariness, perhaps in completely inactive subjects or in elderly patients. It is better to do little than to stand still.

If it seems difficult to reach the threshold of 10 thousand steps we can suggest an equally optimal goal: 3 thousand steps per day but at a higher speed. The advice is therefore to walk half an hour a day at a moderate intensity, which leads me to take 100 steps in a minute continuously for at least 30 minutes, thus making the heart work at a higher rate. You can also start with 10 minutes at a fast pace and then gradually increase until you reach half an hour. If you cannot do 30 minutes at moderate intensity, you can walk for shorter periods, as long as you do not walk for less than 10 minutes at this intensity.

A further benefit can be achieved by alternating the intensity of the walk, i.e. alternating periods of 3-4 minutes with different intensities,” explains Professor Lucini.

 

What is the best time to take a walk?

“When possible, it would be ideal to walk in the morning to start the day. However, this is not the most appropriate time for everyone, but you can take advantage of the lunch break, after eating something light. Many manage to carve out a moment just after work, with the benefit of relaxing and detaching their minds from the thoughts of the day.

Beware of shoes: they should be soft, with a slight rise to the heel and not traumatic to the knees, feet or spine”, the specialist advises.

 

Combating sedentariness

“Structured physical activity should also be part of a healthy lifestyle that combats sedentary activity as much as possible. We try to take some little daily precautions, but they are important and of great help: we take the stairs instead of the elevator, we park a little further away from the destination so as to make a few steps, we get off a prior stop with the bus and walk a few minutes, we go out on foot or by bicycle for outings that do not actually require a car, we get up from time to time in the office to take several steps, even if we just talk on our mobile phone. All these tips are not the main objective, but they help to counteract sedentariness”, concluded Professor Lucini.