Walk your way to better sleep, strength, mood, and more incredible wellness payoffs.
Walking for 30 minutes every day can improve your health in more ways than you might expect.
We asked health experts for the biggest benefits of walking, and here’s what they had to say.
Estudio13G/Getty Images
It sounds like a Catch-22 because you need energy to walk, but walking increases your energy levels.
But it’s the truth.
Walking has been shown to boost your energy and increase your stamina.
The more you do it, the more invigorated you may feel.
According to a 2023 review published inThe British Journal of Sports Medicine,walking might store your life.
“Being active impacts the way our brain processes neurotransmitters like dopamine,” explains clinical psychologist Allison Grupski.
“It has an immediate impact.”
Reduces Depression
Research shows that physical activity, including walking, can reduce depression.
“Data has long shown the benefits of exercise on reducing depression.”
Both groups reported that their pain improved significantly.
This benefit includes your core, pelvic muscles, and back.
It’ll get easier and become more natural to stand upright, both during movement and at rest.
It works like this: As you walk, your body needs more oxygen.
This causes your lungs to work harder and expand bigger to deliver that oxygen to your bloodstream.
Improves Sleep
Walking also improves thequality of your sleep.
And the reduced anxiety and stress from walking can also help you sleep sounder at night.
Grupski says the first step to making walking a habit is to forget about keeping score.
“We tend to get caught up in numbers,” Grupski says.
“Those numbers can feel really daunting and actually get in the way of taking the first step.”
These are some simple tricks Grupski recommends to sneak in extra steps.
It’s a process called piggybacking, orhabit stackingtying new behaviors to familiar ones we already do.
“Repetition is key when it comes to habit development.”
Research suggests that walking at a brisk pace for at least 150 minutes per week is good for you.
Yes, walking backward on a treadmill does provide health benefits.
However, ensure your safety first.
Walking gets your heart pumping, just like running and cycling.
However, how much health benefit you get out of walking depends on a few factors.
Walking uphill, for example, will require more energy than walking on flat ground.
Walking at a faster speed may also take more effort than cycling at a slow speed.
And you might consider wearing aweighted vestor ankle weights to help increase the intensity of your walking workouts.
Generally, running and cycling will be a higher intensity cardio workout because they require more physical exertion.
“Benefits of Walking.”
2019;16:E66.
2021;22(1):338. doi:10.3390/ijms22010338
Chaudhry, S. et al.
“Biochemistry, Endorphin.“StatPearls.
“Physical Activity Reduces Stress.”
Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
(2002).Randomised, controlled walking trials in postmenopausal women.British journal of sports medicine.
2012;2(1):e25.
doi:10.1038/nutd.2011.22
V. Linda, et al.
“Exercise and immunity.”
American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
“Low Back Pain.”
Accessed May 23, 2024.
2013;27(3):207-214.
Give your ideas some legs: the positive effect of walking on creative thinking.
J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn.
2014 Jul;40(4):1142-52.
Dadfar, M. et al.
“Association between physical activity and body posture: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
“BMC Public Health.
“Your lungs and exercise.“Breathe.
1 (January 2016): 11825. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.12444.
Wang, Junjie, Jian Xu, and Ruopeng An.
Kanika Bansal, Arian Vistamehr, Christy L. Conroy, Emily J.
