October 22, 2024, 8:39 am | Read time: 5 minutes

Physical exercise is fundamentally healthy. This also includes going for a walk. And so many people treat themselves to a long walk. Researchers have now discovered that it doesn’t necessarily depend on the length of the walk. Quite the opposite!

But what is actually better for our metabolism? Taking 10,000 steps in one go or in several short walks? In other words, do we burn more calories on long walks in one go or shorter intervals? Researchers have now clarified these questions in a study.

How much exercise should you do per day?

The WHO generally recommends regular exercise – i.e., daily physical activity – rather than doing sport once or twice a week and lazing around the rest of the week. The absolute minimum is 21 minutes of exercise a day, or around two and a half hours a week.

However, higher values are better. In Germany, scientists were commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Health in 2016 to formulate the “National Recommendations for Exercise and the Promotion of Physical Activity.”^.1 According to these, the following minimum recommendations apply for adults:

• 150 minutes a week of aerobic physical activity at a moderate intensity. In other words, around 20 to 30 minutes a day. This includes fast walking, walking, slow running, cycling, etc.
• Alternatively, 75 minutes a week can be spent on high-intensity activities. These are movements that are perceived as strenuous and do not allow continuous talking, e.g., jogging.
• A single unit of activity should not be less than ten minutes.

Pedometers are also a good guideline for personal activity in everyday life. 10,000 steps per day is worth striving for – and not as easy to achieve as you might think.

Is long or frequent walking better for calorie consumption?

But which is better for our metabolism: do we burn more calories on long walks in one go or shorter intervals? Researchers investigated this question in a relatively small but interesting study involving ten test subjects^.2 They wanted to find out how the duration of exercise while walking affects the metabolism. To do this, ten test subjects completed the same procedure:

• First, the test subjects were asked to complete short exercise units on a stepper as well as a treadmill in intervals of 10 to 240 seconds.
• The intensity and speed of the movement were the same for all test subjects.
• During this time, oxygen uptake was measured in relation to the exercise.

Short but frequent movement intervals consume more energy

The analysis of the data showed that test subjects with shorter exercise intervals had a higher oxygen uptake. They, therefore, also had a higher metabolic activity than test subjects who exercised for longer periods of time. During the 30-second intervals, oxygen consumption was 20 to 60 percent higher, i.e., during consistently longer exercise. The researchers explain that this is partly due to the proportionally higher non-metabolic oxygen uptake. This leads to lower efficiency during shorter training sessions. The researchers, therefore, conclude that the energy consumption for short training sessions is underestimated.

It doesn’t have to be long walks

But what does this mean for walks and exercise in general? According to these results, it is more strenuous for the metabolism to get up to speed from a resting state than to maintain continuous light exercise such as walking.

You can think of it a bit like a car. After a cold start, the engine consumes a lot of fuel before it comes up to temperature, and all the auxiliary units are supplied with power. If you then drive at a constant 80 kilometers per hour when warm, you consume significantly less energy.

According to the research results, it is more strenuous for the metabolism to activate ten times for a ten-minute walk, for example, than to go for a 100-minute walk. This means that you burn more calories on frequent short walks than on a long walk with little exercise in between. This is also an argument in favor of moving more often in everyday life, such as getting up more often and leaving the workplace for a few minutes instead of sitting for hours on end.

More on the topic

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Studies provide clues Does it help if you “catch up” on missed exercise at the weekend?

Couch potatoes, take note! Can 10,000 steps a day replace exercise?

Earlier study supports the results

There are already older studies that prove the effectiveness of short intervals of exercise. A study of 47 women who did little exercise in their daily lives showed similar results back in 1998^.3 Some of the test subjects took three ten-minute (brisk) walks per day, while others took only one thirty-minute (brisk) walk. A control group continued to do little daily exercise.

Interestingly, skinfold thickness decreased to a similar extent in both walking groups. However, weight and waist circumference only decreased significantly in the ten-minute walkers. The short exercise sessions with brisk walking not only led to similar fitness improvements as the long exercise sessions but were even better at reducing waist circumference and weight.