Walking is not only one of the most accessible things you can do for your health, it’s also one of the greatest things you can do for your health. This article goes over the benefits of walking, ways you can incorporate it into your day, and how many steps you should aim to get a day.
Why Walking Is the Best Thing You Can Do for Your Body
There are countless benefits to walking. The more walking you do, the more NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) you accumulate throughout the day. NEAT is essentially the calories burned throughout the day without high-intensity, high-impact exercise and includes tasks like doing household chores, walking up and down stairs, and moving around your workplace. On average, walking a mile or 2,000 steps burns about 100 calories, which is similar to the number of calories burned running a mile. The more NEAT you get through walking, the more calories you burn throughout the day, leading to improvements in body composition.
The Surprising Benefits of Walking
Walking is essential for supporting everyday body functioning because it makes everything in the body move: the heart, blood, lymph, muscles, joints, etc. This is why studies have linked a high step count to improved overall health. In fact, walking frequently can overall reduce risk of most lived diseases.
Lymphatic Movement
Lymph is the fluid that moves through our body through all cells of the body and into lymphatic ducts, where fluid works its way back into the bloodstream. The lymphatic system doesn’t have a built-in pump like the heart does for blood circulation. Instead, lymph relies on movement (like walking), muscle contractions, and breathing to circulate. The lymphatic system is a key part of the immune system, helping to remove toxins, waste, and pathogens from the body. Walking stimulates lymph flow, enhancing detoxification and immune response. Lymph stagnation can cause swelling and inflammation, but walking helps lymph return to the bloodstream, reducing overall swelling, including swelling associated with injury. In fact, walking can help alleviate symptoms of lymphedema, an abnormal accumulation of high-protein fluid just beneath the skin. Additionally, moving lymph through walking can increase mental clarity.
Liver Function
The liver is the only organ in the body that supports all the systems of the body, and is vital to overall health. Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is at an all-time high due to the poor nutrient content of the standard American diet (why Americans don’t prioritize their health) and living a sedentary life. Walking reduces the accumulation of liver fat, helping eliminate fatty liver disease. Walking also regulates blood sugar levels by improving insulin sensitivity, and is a great way to work off the sugar spike of eating sweets. The flow of digestive enzymes through hepatic duct and its offshoots that run between the liver, gallbladder, and small intestines also get a boost from walking, which can decrease the risk of gallbladder stones, and increase digestion and gut motility. Walking also enhances blood flow to the liver, lowers oxidative stress (related to cancer), and helps the liver in its detoxification processes.
Mental Clarity
Walking supports blood flow and lymph movement in the brain (there’s a lot of both in your head), which increases oxygen absorption and helps the brain detox, alleviating brain fog. It also relieves stress by supporting dopamine and serotonin production, lowering cortisol levels, and releasing endorphins. Additionally, walking enhances memory and cognitive function by stimulating the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory and learning.
Walking also means spending more time outside, experiencing the colors, shapes, and sounds of nature, which has been shown to provide powerful benefits for overall mental health and a greater sense of connection to life.
Cardiovascular Health
Walking improves cardiovascular health by increasing blood flow and strengthening the heart in a low-impact way. While the heart pumps oxygenated blood to all areas of the body, deoxygenated blood relies on muscle movement to return to the heart, especially from your legs. Walking helps prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and varicose veins by reducing blood pooling in the legs. It also supports the growth of new blood vessels, increases good cholesterol while lowering bad cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, and lowers resting heart rate.
Joint Mobility
Walking naturally lubricates your joints by stimulating synovial fluid production, which reduces friction and nourishes cartilage. Unlike other tissues, cartilage relies on movement to absorb nutrients and flush out waste, to prevent stiffness and degeneration. Walking also strengthens surrounding muscles, which relieves pressure on the knees and ankles, improving joint stability and reducing strain. It promotes flexibility and mobility by keeping ligaments and tendons supple. Because walking is beneficial for joint health, it can help deter arthritis and joint degeneration. Even a short daily walk acts like a natural oil change for your joints.
How Many Steps Should You Walk Per Day?
How many steps you should get per day will most likely be an arbitrary number that is within reach. For example, if you currently walk 4,000 steps per day, maybe 6,000 would be a reasonable goal. The truth is, any amount of walking substantially increases health, but the higher the step count, the greater the health benefit. A study on walking concluded that 8,000 steps per day substantially lowered all cause mortality risk and cardiovascular mortality risk, and 12,000 steps per day lowevers all cause mortality by 65%. If you’re in good health, getting 8,000 steps per day is an easy to achieve goal. If you consider yourself physically capable and have the time in your schedule, aiming for 10,000-12,000 steps a day will lead to a lot of health benefits and substantial body composition results. There are plenty of resources to inform you on how to get 10,000 steps a day.
Walking & Aging: Why It’s Never Too Late to Start
Walking is one of the most accessible forms of movement for everyone, especially older adults. As we age, we tend to burn fewer calories—not because metabolism naturally slows down, but because people generally move less with age. Incorporating walking into your daily routine can give a boost to metabolism, improve circulation, reduce the risk of heart disease, keep joints lubricated, strengthen muscles, and reduce stiffness. Studies have also found that walking prevents falls, helping older adults maintain independence. Additionally, walking can slow cognitive decline by increasing oxygen flow to the brain, reducing brain inflammation, and promoting the formation of new neural pathways. Ultimately, walking supports longevity and a higher quality of life by keeping both the body and mind active.
Why Running Is Worse for Your Joints Compared to Walking
Running is a plyometric exercise that involves bouncing from foot to foot with air-time that takes skill and stability – it is not an easy or beginner movement. Running is also incredibly hard on your joints because of the higher impact forces. Each running foot strike generates forces that can be three to four times your body weight, whereas walking typically only produces forces about 1.2 times your body weight. If you are running improperly, you can quickly develop problems in your ankles, knees, hips, and pelvis. Even if you are running with proper form, the wear and tear from impact forces can lead to arthritis, tendonitis, and stress fractures. However, when you walk, one foot on the ground at all times, which reduces joint impact.
How To Make Walking Fun & Accessible
Hot Girl Walks
Hot girl walks is a term coined by a Gen Z social media influencer to legitimize walking for health. The “traditional” way to hot girl walk is to bring some sort of mantra or mindfulness technique into the process of walking. Other ways you can incentivize walking everyday is by listening to podcasts, audiobooks, music, or going somewhere in nature that feels grounding, nurturing, and inspiring to you. Hot girl walks are all about being prepared for the weather. Bundle up if it’s cold, and wear a cap and protective layers if it is hot and sunny. No matter the day, weather, or time of year, fresh air is always beneficial to breathe, and there is always something beautiful for you to encounter on a walk.
Treadmill Desks
For those who are always on the go and don’t have time for a daily walk, a desk treadmill might be the perfect solution. Using a treadmill desk requires proper screen positioning to maintain good posture. It’s also recommended to start by using the treadmill desk during non-intensive brain tasks, like team calls, answering emails, and other light work.
Walking Buddies
Walking can be a very social part of your day. Everyone benefits from walks, and you’ll be surprised by how many people want to walk with you on a regular basis. The best buddy for a walk is man’s best friend. There are several studies that have found that dog owners get more regular physical activity and take more steps daily than non-owners. So, if you’ve been wanting to increase your step count and craving more companionship, getting a dog might be one of the healthiest all-around choices you can make.
Embrace the Benefits of Walking for a Healthier You
Walking is accessible, suitable for any age, and one of the best things you can do for your health. You don’t need to run, do HIIT, or engage in chronic cardio to achieve the same results you could get from strength training and reaching at least 8,000 steps a day. However, simply focusing on walking is enough, as any amount of steps improves overall health markers and physique.
Want to learn more about the benefits of walking? Listen to episode 221 of the Stronger Than Your Boyfriend Podcast: The Benefits of Walking
Sources Cited:
Schmitz, K. H., Troxel, A. B., Cheville, A., Grant, L. L., Bryan, C. J., Campbell, A. M., … & Williams, N. N. (2015). Exercise for lymphedema: Randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 33(4), 387-393. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2014.56.8799
National Institutes of Health. (2022, September 12). Higher daily step count linked to lower all-cause mortality. NIH News Releases. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/higher-daily-step-count-linked-lower-all-cause-mortality
Liu, S., Lee, I. M., Tsai, Y. W., Wu, Y. C., & Wei, H. (2023). Association of step volume and intensity with all-cause mortality. JAMA Network Open, 6(2), e2250807. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.50807
