(© Iona - stock.adobe.com)
In a nutshell
- Brisk walking (over 4 miles per hour) was linked to a 43% lower risk of cardiac arrhythmias compared to slow walking.
- The protective effect was stronger in women, people under 60, non-obese individuals, and those with existing health conditions like hypertension.
- About 36% of this protective effect comes from improvements in metabolic factors and reduced inflammation, with body weight being the biggest contributor.
GLASGOW, Scotland — Looking for a simple way to protect your heart? Just pick up your walking speed. New research involving over 420,000 people reveals that walking at a faster pace might dramatically lower your chances of developing cardiac arrhythmias—heart rhythm disorders that affect millions worldwide.
More specifically, the study found that people who reported walking briskly (over 4 miles per hour) had a 43% lower risk of these heart rhythm problems compared to those who walked slowly.
The protection was strongest for women, folks under 60, non-obese individuals, and people who already had certain health issues like high blood pressure—indicating this easy lifestyle change could particularly help those who need it most.
The Power of Pace: How Walking Speed Affects Your Heart
The study, published in the journal Heart, breaks new ground as the first to thoroughly examine how walking speed relates to heart rhythm disorders using both self-reported pace and measurements from wrist-worn devices.
Arrhythmias—irregular heartbeats that can feel like fluttering, racing, or skipping—have become increasingly common. Atrial fibrillation, the most widespread type, affects nearly 60 million people globally. These conditions can lead to heart disease, sudden cardiac death, disability, and mortality.
The accessibility of walking makes these findings particularly valuable. Unlike expensive exercise programs or gym memberships, walking costs nothing and works for almost everyone regardless of age or fitness level.
The research team discovered that more than a third of the protective effect (36%) came from metabolic factors and inflammation, with body weight being the biggest contributor. In simpler terms, brisk walking seems to improve heart rhythm health partly by helping control weight and reducing inflammation—two factors strongly tied to arrhythmia development.
The Numbers Behind the Discovery
For their investigation, researchers from Scotland and Chile analyzed data from the UK Biobank, a massive health project tracking over half a million volunteers. Participants reported their typical walking pace as slow (under 3 miles per hour), average (3-4 miles per hour), or brisk (over 4 miles per hour).
Of the 420,925 participants, about 7% reported walking slowly, 53% at an average pace, and 41% briskly. During nearly 14 years of follow-up, 36,574 people (8.7%) developed various types of cardiac arrhythmias.
After accounting for numerous factors—age, sex, socioeconomic status, other physical activity, diet, and existing health conditions—the researchers found that both average and fast walkers had much lower risks than slow walkers. Average-pace walkers had a 35% reduced risk of arrhythmias, while brisk walkers enjoyed a 43% reduction.
To strengthen their results, the researchers also analyzed data from 81,956 participants who wore wrist devices for a week to objectively measure their activity. This confirmed that more time spent walking at moderate or brisk paces was linked to lower arrhythmia risk, while time spent walking slowly showed no protective benefit.
Who Benefits Most: The Surprising Results
The differences in who benefited most revealed interesting patterns. The protective effect of faster walking was stronger in women than men, in people under 60 compared to older adults, and in non-obese individuals compared to those with obesity. People with multiple existing health conditions, especially high blood pressure, also seemed to benefit more from faster walking.
“These new findings reinforce the promotion of faster walking pace in PA recommendations that walking at a brisk pace may have a role in secondary, as well as primary, prevention of cardiac arrhythmias, and provide evidence of higher risk groups to target,” the authors write.
Perhaps most encouraging for those already dealing with health challenges, the research indicates that walking at a brisk pace may help prevent cardiac arrhythmias for those with health conditions as well as for healthy individuals.
In a world where heart problems remain a leading cause of death and disability, this research offers a simple approach to prevention—just walk faster. Your heart’s rhythm will likely thank you.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers used data from the UK Biobank cohort study, examining 420,925 participants for self-reported walking pace analysis and 81,956 participants for device-measured walking pace analysis. Self-reported walking pace was categorized as slow (under 3 miles per hour), average (3-4 miles per hour), or brisk (over 4 miles per hour). A subset of participants wore wrist devices for 7 days to objectively measure physical activity. The team used statistical models to estimate the connection between walking pace and new cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmia types. They adjusted for many potential confounding factors including age, sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, physical activity, sedentary time, grip strength, and number of existing health conditions. The researchers also examined whether metabolic factors (body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar) and inflammation explained the relationship between walking pace and arrhythmias.
Results
Compared to slow walkers, those who reported walking at an average pace had a 35% lower risk of cardiac arrhythmias, while brisk walkers had a 43% lower risk. Similar protective associations appeared for atrial fibrillation specifically and for other arrhythmia types. The device data backed up these findings, showing that more time spent walking at moderate or brisk paces was linked to lower arrhythmia risk, while time spent walking slowly showed no protective benefit. The connection between walking pace and arrhythmias was stronger in women, people under 60, non-obese individuals, and those with multiple existing health conditions, particularly high blood pressure. Analyses revealed that 36% of the protective effect came from metabolic factors and inflammation, with body mass index making the largest contribution (32.8%).
Limitations
The researchers noted several limitations. First, they had access to derived device data but not raw data, limiting more detailed analyses of actual walking speeds. The device study participants were selected using a constrained random sampling approach with a 45% response rate, potentially introducing selection bias. The UK Biobank was subject to healthy volunteer bias. Since participants were aged 40-69 years and primarily white British, caution is needed when applying results to other ethnic or age groups. Self-reporting may have resulted in imprecise measurement. While the researchers adjusted for numerous confounding factors, residual confounding remains a potential limitation of any observational study.
Funding and Publication Information
UK Biobank was established by the Wellcome Trust Medical Research Council, Department of Health, Scottish government, and the Northwest Regional Development Agency, with additional funding from the Welsh assembly government and the British Heart Foundation. The study was published in the journal Heart in April 2025, authored by Pei Qin, Frederick K Ho, Carlos A Celis-Morales, Stewart G Trost, and Jill P Pell, representing institutions including the University of Glasgow, University Católica del Maule, Universidad Arturo Prat, and the University of Queensland.
Junk science! This is just a correlation. It is more likely that they walk because they are healthy, rather than healthy because they walk.