How to Get the Biggest Benefits of Walking
Today is National Walking Day, and the best way to celebrate is (you guessed it) to lace up your sneakers and hit the pavement. Doing so will boost your health in several important ways.
“Walking is the most studied form of exercise, and multiple studies have proven that it’s the best thing we can do to improve our overall health, and increase our longevity and functional years,” says Robert Sallis, M.D., a family physician and sports medicine doctor with Kaiser Permanente.
Just consider these benefits of walking:
1. Lower body mass index (BMI). A recent study from the University of Warwick published in the International Journal of Obesity confirms that those who walk more and sit less have lower BMIs, which is an indicator of obesity. In the study, those who took 15,000 or more steps per day tended to have BMIs in the normal, healthy range.
2. Reduced waist circumference. Even if you are at or near a healthy weight, having a larger waist is associated with higher risk of heart disease.
3. Lower blood pressure and cholesterol. The National Walkers’ Health study, published in 2013, found that walking reduced a person’s risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol by about 7 percent, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.
4. Lower fasting blood sugar (glucose). Higher blood glucose levels are a risk factor for diabetes, and the National Walkers’ Health Study also found that walkers had a 12 percent lower risk of diabetes.
5. Boosts your memory. A 2013 study at the University of British Columbia found that walking just 1 hour, twice a week, could increase the size of your hippocampus—the region of the brain associated with memory.
6. Reduces stress and improves your mood. Walking, like other types of aerobic exercise, stimulates the production of neurotransmitters in the brain—such as endorphins—that help improve your mental state.
Experts agree that any amount of walking is good for you, but to get the maximum benefits of walking, you need to log some mileage and increase your intensity.
The minimum prescription for good health is 30 minutes of moderate intensity walking, five days per week. “More is better, but you can get a significant portion of the health benefits of walking even with just that moderate amount,” Sallis says.
Here are 5 research-backed ways to sneak more steps into every day—as well as get the most out of every step you take.
1. Walk as much as you can. The University of Warwick study compared people with at least one sign of metabolic syndrome—which is a group of risk factors (high blood pressure, fat around the waist, high blood sugar, and high triglycerides and cholesterol) that lead to heart disease—to those with no risk factors. They found that those who got the least activity had the most risk factors, and those who walked the most—accumulating at least 15,000 steps per day—had healthy BMIs, smaller waists, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and better blood sugar control.
Many people aim for a daily goal of 10,000 steps (or about 5 miles)—and an industry of fitness tracking devices has emerged to support them—but that magic number didn’t originate from scientific research, says John Schuna Jr., Ph.D., assistant professor of kinesiology at Oregon State College of Public Health. “It was first used in a Japanese marketing effort associated with one of the first commercial pedometers.” The device was called “manpo-kei,” which literally means "10,000 steps meter" in Japanese.
“The 10,000 steps goal is thought to be a realistic minimum, and it’s good, but for complete risk reduction, people should aim for more,” says William Tigbe, M.D., Ph.D., a physician and public health researcher at University of Warwick and lead author of the study showing that 15,000 steps per day can lead to greater benefits. “In our study, those who took 5,000 extra steps had no metabolic syndrome risk factors at all.”
2. Pick up the pace. Another way to get more out of even a shorter walk is to do it faster. A recent study looked at not just the total number of steps people took per day but also how quickly they took them. “Those who had a faster stepping rate had similar health outcomes—lower BMI and lower waist circumference—as those who took the most steps per day,” says Schuna, one of the study authors. He recommends trying for a minimum of 100 steps per minute (roughly 2.5 to 3 miles per hour) or as brisk a pace as you can (135 steps per minute will get you up to about a 4 mph pace).
3. Break it up. “We cannot accumulate 15,000 steps in leisure time only,” reasons Tigbe. “But if you take walking breaks throughout the day, it is doable.” Aim for bouts of 10 minutes or more at a time of brisk walking. You’ll get in more steps and decrease the amount of time you spend being sedentary—which is a big risk factor for heart disease.
4. Try intervals. Instead of doing an entire 30-minute walk at the same moderate pace, try high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Alternate between 30-second to 1-minute bursts of faster walking, followed by a minute or two of slower-paced recovery. A 2008 study compared people who did no exercise with those who walked at a steady, moderate pace and those who mixed high and moderate intensity. The researchers found that the group that cranked up the intensity had the greatest reductions in waist circumference and abdominal fat.
5. Take it uphill. “Think of it as getting two for one,” says Sallis. “When you increase your intensity, such as walking up a steep hill, you get the equivalent benefit in half the time.”
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