Walking a bit more, and sitting a bit less, could add years to your life

Ewa Monteith-Hodge, Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer at Walking Scotland

In order to be healthy, adults should be active every day, and, over the week, we should aim for about 150 minutes of what is called moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA), which includes things like brisk walking. We should also minimise the time we spend not moving at all. 

New research in medical journal The Lancet looked at what small changes in physical activity can mean for preventing deaths at a population level. It studied over 100,000 people, with activity-tracking devices measuring movement. Just 5 extra minutes of activity every day, was associated with a 10% reduction in deaths for most adults. Even for people are very inactive, these small increases in activity were linked to meaningful health gains, with a 6% reduction in deaths. What’s more, replacing just 30 minutes of time spent sitting still with some kind of physical activity was linked was a 7% reduction in deaths.

Adding some more steps into your day, and brisk ones if they can be, really can have a massive positive impact on your health. 

Walking is free, accessible and easy to add into everyday life. If you’re looking for inspiration on how to walk more, check out the Walking hub on our website.

Read the full paper on ScienceDirect.

Published: 20 January 2026