One of the most significant tools for health and fitness success is one of the simplest ones.
Walking each-and-every day.
You do not need to run marathons or triathlons to improve your health significantly. Instead, you can make significant fitness and emotional gains from a small amount of daily walking.
In today’s post, I will discuss the many benefits of walking. You will see how it can improve your mental, physical, and emotional health.
Plus, you’ll discover a few ideas on how to motivate yourself to walk every day. (If you’re looking for additional tools to lose weight and maximize your exercise, check out these 11 apps that will help you plan healthy meals.)
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So let’s take the first one…
The Benefits of Walking Daily
Walking is something most people can do, regardless of their level of fitness.
Whether someone has an active and physical lifestyle or the usual physical activity is a short trip from the couch to the refrigerator, increasing the amount of daily walking has significant benefits for both the short and long term.
Here are just a few of the benefits of daily walking:
- Low-impact way to get in shape and lose weight. Walking between 7500 and 10000 steps daily is one of the keys to fitness.
- Improves sleep
- Walking daily decreases hypertension, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. It has been shown to increase good cholesterol (HDL) and decrease bad cholesterol (LDL).
- Reduces stress
- When balanced with other positive habits, like drinking green superfood powder, it can quickly help you improve your health.
- Increases balance and endurance
- Increases sexual desire and satisfaction
- Slows mental decline
- Improves the mood and battles the effects of depression
- It gives you time to think. Daily walking can act as a form of meditation. It gives you time to mull over ideas. If you have problems at work or at home, a nice walk could help you come up with solutions.
- Reduces fatigue
- Once you form the habit, turning it into a lifestyle change is easy. Of all fitness and exercise routines, walking has the highest compliance rate.
- It can make you smarter. Daily walking can make you sharper and smarter and reduce the chances of long-term mental disease because it helps to increase blood flow through the brain.
11 Steps to a Daily Walking Habit:
1. Set a daily target.
8,000 to 10,000 steps a day is a decent goal for daily walking. “Walk more” is not specific enough! The power of small wins where you can make a “difficult” but “achievable” goal, such as 10,000 steps a day, means constantly challenging yourself.
2. Make it a 30-Day Habit Challenge (30DHC).
One thing I preach about here on the Develop Good Habits (DGH) website is the simple process of the 30-day challenge. If you force yourself to do something each day for 30 days, it will become an ingrained habit.
For 30 days, force yourself to walk each and every day—no excuses. You will find that you feel the positive effects, and it will become a habit in this short period of time.
3. Keep a daily log.
You can use a notebook, spreadsheet, digital app, website, or write it on the wall to keep track of your daily walking. It does not matter how you do it.
It is important to keep track every day. Set daily and weekly goals. Track your results and see how you improve over time.
5. Buy a Pedometer.
It is important to get an idea of how much you walk each day. This information is also important for all of the logs you will be keeping.
There are quite a few pedometers on the market: simple pedometers that will do the log-keeping for you and even ones that make a “game” out of your daily walking. A Pedometer is a simple tool but an important one.
Check out this article on the Best Pedometers, where I discuss 4 different types of pedometers and show the best pedometers for Cheapskates, Techies, Multi-taskers, and Gamers/Social Addicts.
6. Increase incidental walking.
Incidental walking is the walking you do each day just to get from Point A to Point B. It is actually quite easy to increase your chances of reaching your 10,000-step goal by increasing your incidental walking.
Do not search for the closet parking spot, park far away and walk to the stores. If you need to pick something up at the grocery store, don’t drive ¼ of a mile – walk it.
7. Make it fun.
One of the good things about walking is that it can be enjoyable. Bring your iPod. Vary your location. Take a walk on the beach one day, through the city the next, and in the forest the day after that.
You can take pictures, meet people and have a good time. Walking does not need to be a chore. Remember, it is a positive lifestyle change and can become quite an enjoyable habit.
8. Buy a good pair of sneakers.
If you will walk a lot, ensure you have comfortable and well-cushioned walking shoes. Your legs and feet will thank you, and the lack of pain and discomfort will make the process go smoothly.
To find the best pair of sneakers, check out the best: Walking Shoes for Men OR Walking Shoes for Women
Additionally, if your walking takes you off-road and is more about hiking than a nice walk through the city, you may want to consider getting footwear for both.
The different terrain of hiking, rough trails, and off-road means your feet have different needs than city walking.
Here are two places to help you find the proper hiking shoes/boots for your needs. The best hiking boots for women OR hiking boots for men
9. Socialize and walk.
If you can find some friends or family to walk with. This is a good idea for two reasons. The first is that others will help you to stick to your plan. The second is that walking with others can be simply more fun. A pleasant stroll on with a friend or family member will seem more enjoyable than trying to reach an arbitrary goal.
Walk with someone; the walk will be over before you know it. Even if no family and friends are interested, you could join a local “walking club” and find others interested in walking and socializing.
10. Drink more water.
Drinking water before and after your walk (for long walks: during the walk) is important. Staying hydrated helps to keep you feeling great and increases the be positive effects of your walking.
11. Reward yourself.
If you have been good about reaching your walking goals, reward yourself. Buy that new dress, go out to the movies, or do something to “reward” your efforts. (Sidebar: grabbing a “Big Mac” might be counterproductive here)
Walk your way to Fitness and Mental Health.
Many people have grand ideas about fitness and exercise, only to fall short over a long period. Walking has the highest “success ratio” of any new exercise and fitness regime. It is an easy lifestyle change that brings about huge benefits.
When people begin to walk more frequently, they often find it an enjoyable part of their routine. They look forward to every day, rather than being something they “have to do” to stay fit and healthy.
Over time, the intensity and duration of the walks can be increased. Remember that you burn just as many calories walking a mile for calorie-burning purposes as you do running it. (The run gets it done quicker).
Walking has quite a few benefits, and you will enjoy making a minimum of 10,000 steps part of your regime.
It is essential for your physical and mental health. Walking daily will improve your mood and make you more productive and happy.
15 Health Benefits of Walking Every Day
We could all benefit from being a little healthier, but many of us aren’t quite sure where to begin. Fortunately, something as simple as walking daily can greatly improve your health, help you lose weight, and make you feel more confident about yourself and your body.
There are dozens of reasons why walking daily can help you improve your lifestyle, but we’ve compiled this list of the 15 major benefits.
1. Increase Your Lifespan
Staying healthy is crucial to living a long and happy life, but you don’t need to run marathons into your seventies to reap the benefits of staying active. A new study has shown that frequent walking can add up to 7.2 years to an individual’s life.
According to the study, the amount of walking the individual will influence the number of years added to the individual’s life. Even 75 minutes a week, less than 11 minutes of walking daily, can add almost 2 years to an individual’s life. The American Heart Association recommends that individuals get about 150 minutes of walking a week, just over 20 minutes daily.
For most people, getting 20 minutes of walking is easy. Taking a pet for a walk or just strolling around the block for some relaxation is a great way to get the exercise you need to live longer.
2. Manage Your Weight
You don’t need to go on extreme diets or exercise rigorously to begin losing weight. Just walking can be enough to see a few pounds drop away. When you walk for extended periods, you can find that walking helps jump-start your weight loss program and may even help you walk off an entire pants size in just a few weeks.
If you’re looking to use walking to help you lose weight, you may need to engage in a stronger program than just walking from Point A to Point B. Adding interval walking, keeping a certain pace, and walking with exercise bands are all great ways to help promote weight loss as you walk.
3. Burns Fat
Burning fat is one of the biggest priorities when looking to lose weight or just feel better in our skin. Many of us who suffer from excess body fat get that way because of a lack of exercise and movement. Luckily, it isn’t difficult to lose weight; it just takes a few days of brisk walking.
As discussed in point #2, walking is usually used more to boost a more intense workout plan. While walking can help you lose excess fat, you probably won’t get the body of your dreams from walking alone. That said, brisk walking can help you prevent belly fat from growing or gaining fat.
4. Helps Overweight People Get into Shape
Similar to points #2 and #3, frequent walking is a great exercise for anyone looking to jump-start a weight loss plan or workout regimen, particularly those who are currently overweight.
Walking is an easy way for overweight individuals to get the movement and exercise they need. As walking gets easier, they can begin jogging or running to promote weight loss further and get in shape.
5. Reduces Stress
Walking can actually reduce stress in a number of ways, including setting your mind into a meditative state, boost endorphins, and give you more energy. The stress-reducing benefits of walking increase even more if you walk outside or bring a friend.
When you walk, you get exercise while still taking the time to appreciate your surroundings. This can allow you to forget about your stresses and worries, catch up with a friend in a non-stressful environment, and reap the benefits of good exercise.
6. Reduces Dementia
Walking helps manage stress and may similarly help prevent dementia. A recent study showed that a 20-minute walk daily reduced the susceptibility to dementia by 40%. Researchers in the study believe that walking can reduce the risk of dementia by opening up the window of the mind. Walking keeps the brain stress-free, releases endorphins, and allows the blood to flow more freely and fluidly through the brain.
Walking can best reduce the risk of dementia through preventative measures, but it can also reduce some of the symptoms if patients begin walking regularly.
7. Easy on the Joints
Walking has a very low impact on the joints, so it is an excellent exercise for individuals with joint problems or pain. It is also a fantastic exercise for individuals with joint pain because it is low-cost and can be done anywhere, unlike other forms of exercise that may require a certain location, like a pool or special equipment. Additionally, walking is one of the top low-impact exercises that can help you lose weight and burn calories.
Walking can also be a great way for injured athletes to continue getting the exercise they need. It is easy on the joints, and frequent walks can allow them to stay mobile while they are recovering from their injury without needing to worry about compromising their condition.
8. Lowers Blood Pressure
Exercise, in general, can help keep your blood pressure at normal, lower rates. Luckily, walking is included in that spectrum, and you don’t even need to walk for long distances.
If you are having trouble finding or making the time to get adequate exercise, walking for just three minutes three times a day can help you keep your blood pressure low.
Taking a short, brisk walk in the morning, midday, and evening can be just as beneficial for blood pressure as 30 minutes of intense exercise.
Having high blood pressure can be highly damaging to the body and the heart and can lead to severe health conditions like stroke or heart disease.
Those with a family history of such diseases or high blood pressure should seriously consider adding a walking routine to their daily lives and habits.
9. Strengthens Your Heart
Heart health is essential to overall health, so you must pay attention to all diseases and illnesses that can harm your heart.
Luckily, frequent walks can keep many diseases and conditions at bay, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Frequent walking is one of the best things you can do for your heart and preventing heart disease from developing.
Getting the recommended 20 minutes daily is a great start for ensuring your heart stays healthy and disease-free.
10. Strengthens Your Bones and Reduces Your Risk of Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a serious condition that causes the bones to weaken and become brittle. While there is no cure for osteoporosis, there are a number of things you can do to strengthen your bones, including walking.
Walking is considered a weight-bearing exercise, which puts weight on the bones. When doing a weight-bearing exercise, you’re fighting against gravity to put pressure on the bones, which forces the bones to work more and gain strength.
Staying still can be very harmful if you have osteoporosis, and it can also be difficult to find exercises that are not too risky for the condition. Walking is one of the best exercises for individuals with osteoporosis.
As we already mentioned, walking is easy on the joints, so while individuals with osteoporosis do not need to worry about further damaging their bones, they can still burn calories and get the exercise everyone needs.
11. Reduces Depression and Improves Your Mood
As we already pointed out, walking can reduce your stress level. Having a high level of stress can cause you to be irritable and may even result in mental conditions like depression.
In a recent study, researchers examined how walking affects those suffering from depression. They had some of the group walk for 25 minutes in different areas of a city, and they examined how walking in certain environments influenced the individual’s moods.
According to the study, people who walked in green areas were in better moods and felt more engaged when they left their walking environment.
This suggests that frequent walking in green, natural areas can reduce feelings of depression and make you feel happier.
Whether you’re suffering from depression or need to clear your head, taking about a half-hour walk through a park can get you feeling better.
12. Boosts Your Memory
When we are physically fit and take the time to care for our bodies, we usually experience higher levels of cognitive function. This means we can think more clearly, have an easier time remembering things, and are less likely to experience dementia as we age.
A recent study that looked at women, their physical activity, and their level of cognitive decline as they age found that the more physically active an individual is, the less likely they are to experience high levels of mental decline.
By completing the 20 minutes of walking suggested each day, we can improve our memory and ward off cognitive diseases that can drastically decrease our quality of living.
13. Improves Your Sleep
Walking can improve sleep in several ways. Exercise, in general, helps the body deal with stress, work off excess energy, and better prepare for sleep.
As we’ve addressed in previous points, walking is a great way to deal with stress and help manage our moods. However, we can frequently stay up all night worrying about relationships, work, or finances.
Frequent walking can help individuals who have trouble sleeping by helping them fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
In a study with chronic insomnia sufferers, which includes individuals who cannot fall asleep easily as well as individuals who have trouble staying asleep through the night, they found that moderate-intensity exercise helped reduce the symptoms associated with chronic insomnia. That same study found that other forms of exercise, like running or lifting weights, did not help individuals sleep.
This leads us to believe that even if you are an avid runner or weightlifter, you should still consider adding walking to your routine, especially if you find yourself having trouble staying asleep or falling asleep.
14. Tones Up Your Legs, Butt, and Stomach
We already addressed the many ways that walking can help you to lose weight and drop fat, but did you know it can also help you tone up? When you switch up your walking routine by adding new elements and locations, you can start to see the benefits you may have only believed came with intense workout plans.
There are a number of things you can do to tone your legs, butt, and stomach as you walk. One of the biggest suggestions is walking uphill, which can engage many muscles in your body and allow you to see results.
If you don’t have hills to walk up, find a place that requires you to walk up stairs, which can provide a similar effect. Another way to increase your muscle movement and engagement when walking is to tighten your muscles as you walk. This gives them a similar experience to being naturally engaged; they only experience manual engagement, causing them to work hard consistently.
Additional ways to tone up from walking include picking up your speed. If you’re looking to get more benefit from your walking, consider walking faster or for more extended periods. Walking somewhere that you enjoy the scenery is recommended, which can increase the time you’re willing to walk.
15. Boosts Your Vitamin D
Vitamin D is crucial to our health and happiness, and the best way to get enough of it is to spend time in the sun.
Being deficient in Vitamin D can lead to an increase in developing cardiovascular disease, cause asthma in children, and may even cause cancer. It is also known to cause things like bone pain and muscle weakness.
Taking frequent walks outside, particularly in the middle of the day when the sun is bright, can boost your Vitamin D levels and get you feeling better. Mid-day walking is also crucial in the winter, when the days are shorter, and it can be more challenging for individuals to get the amount of time in the sun they need.
Did you enjoy this list?
We hope that you found some helpful information!
If you’re looking to get a little healthier, don’t let yourself believe it is too difficult. Adopting just 20 minutes a day of brisk walking can give you all the above benefits and get you feeling better, more confident, and happier.
Walking is a great exercise when used alone, but when combined with more rigorous exercises and physical exertions, adding walking to your routine can give you the health you’ve always dreamed of.
Also, if you’d like additional tools to lose weight and maximize your exercise, check out these 11 apps to help you plan healthy meals.
Check out further articles about walking for health and fitness:
- Is Walking Good for Neuropathy?
- 227 Funny or Clever Walking Challenge Team Names
- 8 Cardio Alternatives to Running When You’re Injured
- Is Walking Cardio? How to Build a Good Cardio Walking Workout
