Walking is a simple and easy movement, but when it comes to developing a fitness plan, it often gets overlooked in favor of more vigorous forms of exercise. Yet, regular walking can have powerful physical benefits while also reducing stress and improving mental clarity.
“Walking 30 minutes a day reduces your cortisol levels, which is the stress hormone,” said Holly Edgin, who has a background in personal training and serves as the Spa Director for The Maybourne Beverly Hills in California. “Just doing this 30 minutes or longer just to refill your cup is going to help mental clarity.”
Edgin said she enjoys how things become clearer and solutions to problems arise as she steps away from the outside world for a brief time during a walk.
“You get the perks like burning calories and heart health (from walking), but it’s an outlet, and it’s your uninterrupted time,” Edgin said.
Michele Stanten, a walking coach, fitness instructor and former fitness editor, said research has found any activity and movement, including walking, improves wellness.
“That’s what makes walking so wonderful: It’s accessible, it’s flexible, you can use it in whatever way works for you and your lifestyle,” Stanten said. “All the research shows you get similar benefits from walking that you do other types of exercise.”
Stanten said the benefits of a walking routine are lengthy and, like the benefits of other forms of exercise, include reduced risk for heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer. Regular walking can also reduce pain and provide better sleep.
The mental health benefits of walking include improved mood and reduced anxiety. Going for walks outside can be a way to slow down, connect with nature and take in sunshine.
Walking with friends provides an opportunity to catch up and build relationships while walking alone can be a way of getting some much-needed personal quiet time.
“If you're having a bad day and you head out for a walk, you can feel the tension easing from your muscles as you walk,” Stanten said. “Stepping away from a situation that's intense, like a big work deadline or an argument with your spouse, can give you time and perspective so you're better able to deal with it when you return—and you're calmer.”
Make a Plan
As with any exercise plan, consistency in a walking routine is critical. For beginners, it could simply involve taking more daily steps. Stanten recommends doing a loop around the grocery store before shopping or walking around the baseball field during a child’s practice as ways of adding movement into the daily routine. Not using the elevator and getting up from a desk periodically to move are other ways of increasing the daily step count.
“I will suggest to my clients to go for a walk for five to 10 minutes after every meal. It helps with digestion, and it helps stop any additional cravings you may have,” said Amanda Clark, a certified personal trainer based in the Kansas City, Missouri, area.
Stanten recommends starting with realistic goals when developing a walking fitness routine, even if it means only being active for five minutes a day, then gradually increase it over time.
Regina Vaicekonyte, Vice President of Health Sciences at Delos Labs, said since fitness trackers have become popular, there has been a notion that 10,000 steps per day is the gold standard of daily walking activity. Yet, research suggests benefits can be seen even with a lower number of steps, and she hopes that information encourages people to keep track of their steps and develop more realistic goals. After all, it can be difficult to get 10,000 steps in a day through typical daily activities.
As simple walks turn into a true fitness routine, social support can be helpful, Vaicekonyte said, adding that many wearable devices have community features and challenges.
Edgin agrees that community is essential. “It’s more fun, and it’s safer, when you build a community,” Edgin said.
Laying the Foundation for Increased Activity
For those looking to develop a more rigorous walking routine that delivers continued benefits, Stanten suggests increasing the intensity.
“Whether you’re looking to lose weight, whether you’re looking to lower your cholesterol or blood pressure, or just get some of those feel-good benefits, you plateau if you don’t change things up, especially with walking,” Stanten said.
She recommends incorporating faster-paced intervals, which could be set to music or based on quickly reaching an upcoming landmark. She also said people typically think longer strides result in a faster pace, but it is shorter, quicker steps and good posture that enable walkers to cover ground more quickly.
Clark said regular walking helps create a positive mental building block that extends to other types of fitness. For example, if someone has been walking 30 minutes a day for a few months, it could help ease them into a fitness program that includes strength training.
“It’s the mindset part of it. If you are already walking, you are already in the mindset of ‘I need to be moving,’” Clark said.
For those especially interested in achieving fitness goals through walking, Stanten said many 5K, 10K, or half-marathon races are not exclusive to runners. There are options to walk such races, but she said it is important to choose a race with a course that will be open long enough to finish in the allotted time.
Because walking is low-impact and easier on the joints, Stanten said walking such races provides an opportunity for those with a competitive spirit but joint difficulty to still participate in a race.
“There is a place for walking in everyone’s fitness program because we all tend to be so sedentary,” Stanten said.