Walking 8,000 steps – about 6.4km – one or two days a week may significantly reduce the risk of an early death, according to a study released on Tuesday.

While regular exercise is known to lower mortality risk, the study published in the “Jama Network Open” journal looked at the health benefits of walking intensively only a few days a week.

The researchers from Kyoto University in Japan and the University of California analysed data from 3,100 American adults.

They found that those who walked 8,000 steps or more one or two days a week were 14.9% less likely to die over a 10-year period than those who never reached that mark.

For those who did this three to seven days a week, the mortality risk was even lower, at 16.5%.

The health benefits appeared higher for participants aged 65 years and older, the researchers pointed out.

“The number of days per week taking 8,000 steps or more could be associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality,” they wrote.

These findings, they added, suggested that individuals may reap substantial health benefits even with just two days of intensive exercise.

For the study, the researchers used daily step counts from the participants in 2005 and 2006 and examined their mortality data 10 years later.

Of those who participated, 632 did not exercise at all in a week; 532 took 8,000 steps or more one to two days a week; and 1,937 took 8,000 or more steps three to seven days a week.

The average American walks 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day, according to the Mayo Clinic, which says walking regularly can reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression.