Research
Adherence
Stepping intensity (cadence) is not independently associated with lower mortality rates after accounting for total step volume.
You do not need to walk fast to reduce your risk of death. Focus on increasing your total number of steps. If you walk slowly, that still counts toward your daily goal. The benefit comes from the volume of steps, not how fast you take them.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Stepping intensity was not clearly related to lower mortality rates after accounting for total steps per day.
Why this rating
Same high-quality cohort data; statistical adjustment for volume isolates the lack of independent intensity effect.
Source
Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women
I‐Min Lee et al. · JAMA Internal Medicine · 2019
DOI 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0899
cohort · n=16741Cited 619×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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