Many of us have apps or watches that count how many steps we take. You might even have a target number of steps for each day or each week. But according to a new study, if you want to protect your heart, you actually don't need to worry too much about counting steps — just try to make sure you walk for a long time all at once! An international team of researchers found that taking walks of 15 minutes or more could be really good for your heart health. And that may be true even for people who don't take many steps when they walk. The researchers studied more than 33,000 adults aged between 40 and 79. All of them took fewer than 8,000 steps per day. They looked at how long people walked at a time. Many took walks that lasted less than five minutes, while others walked for 15 minutes or more. The researchers also looked at people's heart health over an eight-year period. They found that people who took longer walks all at once were less likely to have heart problems or die during that eight-year period. Even people who took 5,000 steps or fewer per day were able to reduce their risk by taking longer walks. The researchers said that it might be good to take one longer walk instead of several short walks. However, short walks can also be good for our health. Previous studies have found that we may burn more calories on short walks. And doing a little exercise is always better than not doing any!