Let’s Go for a Walk! | The Benefits of Walking

Walking can be a great form of exercise, and one of the amazing things about walking is that it can be done almost anywhere: Inside your house, in your neighborhood, on a treadmill, on a local trail, at the park, in the mall, and so on. And since the temps are getting cooler, it’s an even better time of year to get in some steps!

While I love running, I’m learning about and experiencing more and more the the benefits of walking. It’s always a great option when I can’t run due to sickness, injury, or when I’m recovering from an injury, and some days, walking is my preferred cardio activity. I can get in some heart-healthy movement and just think.

The Benefits of Walking

Walking offers some amazing benefits, both physically and mentally, and both are important for overall good health. Let’s start with some of the physical benefits we can get from walking:

• Improve cardiovascular fitness. Think walking isn’t a good form of exercise? Think again! The American Heart Association recommends adults get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity aerobic activity. If you keep up a good walking pace—where you can talk breathily but not sing, it counts! And one study found that walking just 21 minutes a day can reduce your risk of heart disease by 30%!
• Protect and strengthen our joints and bones. Since walking is low impact, it adds very little stress to those joints and bones, and it can also be a great form of movement when you’re recovering from a surgery or injury. (Please talk with your healthcare team first to make sure walking is the right post-surgery or post-recovery option for you). Walking can help lubricate our joints too.
• Maintain a healthy body weight
• Lose unwanted body fat. Walking burns calories!
• Reduce cravings. One study found that a 15-minute walk can cut a chocolate craving in half, and you’d think that this same outcome could be applied to other cravings too. At the least, taking a 15-minute walk can help get your mind off that craving.😉
• Increased energy levels
• Better sleep
• Manage and even reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, cancer, and high cholesterol
• Boost your immunity. One study found that walking for 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week led to a 43% decreased number of sick days, and when these walkers did get sick, they recovered faster and their symptoms were milder.
• Better balance and coordination
• Increased muscle endurance and stronger muscles
• Relieve pain from arthritis. One study found that walking 5-6 miles a day (10K-13K steps, on average) can help reduce your risk of arthritis in the first place! If walking 5-6 miles at once feels daunting, break up those steps throughout the day.
• Lower blood pressure. The key to this benefit is also getting in 10K+ steps a day, throughout the day.

While the physical benefits of walking are so important, it can take some time to recognize them. But we can feel the mental benefits during and after our first walk and during and after every single walk. That’s why I love all the mental benefits you can get from walking, even when you’re walking within the walls of your own home! Check these out:

• Relieves stress
• Increases your energy and stamina
• Can help reduce depression. A study¹ out of Duke University found that walking can be an effective treatment for major depression in some patients
• Increases your mental alertness due to better sleep
• Improves your mood, cognition, and memory
• Improves your creative thinking. I’m all about this one since creativity is my work. Studies back this up: Stanford University found that “walking boosts creative thinking by an average of 60 percent and this inspiration lasts once you sit down.”

Let’s dive deeper into that last benefit. Several famous people who have contributed to our world in some very important ways were walkers:

• Charles Darwin is said to have taken three 45-minute walks every day for most of his life.
• Ludwig Van Beethoven took short walking breaks during the day and a longer walk every afternoon, using paper and pen on his walks to record the inspirations he received.
• William Wordsworth is said to have walked 175,000 miles in his lifetime, often using this time to compose and revise his poetry.
• Steve Jobs believed he got his most creative ideas while walking and often held “walking” meetings with this staff.

And here are some quotes from some other famous walkers about walking:

• J.K. Rowling: “Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas.”
• Charles Dickens: “It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing upon something.”
• Charles Dickens: “The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy, walk and be healthy.”
• Henry David Thoreau: “Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”
• Henry David Thoreau: “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”
• Virginia Woolf: “To walk alone in London is the greatest rest.”
• Hippocrates: “Walking is man’s best medicine.”

How can you incorporate more walking into your life? Read on…

10 Tips for Adding More Walking Into Your Life

Tip #1. Get some shoes. In order to make your walks as enjoyable as possible, it’s important to wear the right shoes for your feet. This is crucial for running, but it’s just as important for walking. So, head to a specialty running store to find the best fit for your feet! Learn more about how to find walking shoes here.

Tip #2. Step it up. In order to get the cardio benefits of walking, you’ll need to keep a good pace. Here’s an easy way to gauge your pace: If you can talk a bit breathily but not sing, you’ve found your pace!

Tip #3. Aim for time, not steps. While it can be fun and beneficial to track steps, aim to track the minutes you spend walking. No pedometer or step counter needed!

Tip #4. Watch or listen to something. If I’m walking on the treadmill, I’ll often save a favorite to show to watch while I walk. Or if you have a difficult time making time for walking, only listen to a favorite podcast or audio book or watch a favorite show when you’re walking. It’s a built-in motivator and reward at the same time!

Tip #5. Try going tech-free. Since walking can be prime thinking and solving time, try unplugging while you’re walking.

Tip #6. Learn while you walk. Listen to audio books or podcasts or watch an educational program.

Tip #7. Keep in touch with friends and family. It’s easy to plug in your headphones or airpods and talk with others while you’re getting in your walk.

Tip #8. Walk with a buddy. Any form of exercise is more fun with a friend, so invite someone else to join you on your walk. I love to meet a friend at a local trail and get in some steps and some awesome conversation!

Tip #9. Break it up. If you don’t have time for a longer walk, fit several shorter walks into your day.

Tip #10. Just walk. While walking outside does offer some added mental benefits, walking—wherever or whenever you can do it— counts! Walk around your house, hit the local mall, walk in place while watching a show, walk around the grocery store…just walk.

Walking can be an easy and beneficial form of exercise, and the mental and physical benefits are an important reason to add more walking into your life. Which tip will you try out first? I’ve got a Hallmark movie to finish the next time I walk on the treadmill!

Source:
1. Ryan Holiday, Stillness Is the Key, p. 197