How can walking help you

We recommend the Fitbit Charge 4 or the Garmin Vivosmart 4 , both of which automatically record your activity and heart rate. There are plenty of ways to make your walk more challenging and get your heart pumping even more. One way is to pick up your pace, by walking faster or adding in short bursts of running intervals.

You might also choose tougher terrain, either by finding a hilly area or hiking in the woods. By wearing a weighted vest or carrying a backpack filled with a few books you can also increase resistance, which translates into a better workout. You could also try incorporating some light resistance work into your daily walk. Consider taking two or three breaks during your walk to perform some basic bodyweight exercises like squats, lunges or pushups.

Feel like you need motivation to get moving more than a challenge? Use a workout app with walking programs to guide you through your steps.

Peloton and Aaptiv have audio-outdoor walking workouts available via their subscriptions. The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered.

Follow Reviewed on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram for the latest deals, product reviews, and more. Facebook Twitter Email. Esther Bell Reviewed. Our Pacesetters ensure that we can chart the course for a cure for those who live with arthritis.

Our Signature partners make their mark by helping us identify new and meaningful resources for people with arthritis. Our Supporting partners are active champions who provide encouragement and assistance to the arthritis community. It also lowers the risk of blood clots, since the calf acts as a venous pump, contracting and pumping blood from the feet and legs back to the heart, reducing the load on the heart.

In addition to being an easy aerobic exercise, walking is good for you in many other ways. Improve Circulation Walking wards off heart disease, brings up the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and strengthens the heart.

Lose Weight A brisk minute walk burns calories. Strengthen Muscles Walking tones your leg and abdominal muscles — and even arm muscles if you pump them as you walk. Support Your Joints The majority of joint cartilage has no direct blood supply. Improve Your Breath When walking, your breathing rate increases, causing oxygen to travel faster through bloodstream, helping to eliminate waste products and improve your energy level and the ability to heal.

Slow Down Mental Decline A study of 6, women, ages 65 and older, performed by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that age-related memory decline was lower in those who walked more.

Do More for Longer Aerobic walking and resistance exercise programs may reduce the incidence of disability in the activities of daily living for people who are older than 65 and have symptomatic OA, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management found. Physical Activity View All Articles. Walk With Ease Reduce your arthritis pain with our proven walking program, on your own or with a group.

Stay in the Know. Live in the Yes. I Want to Contribute. Donate Every gift to the Arthritis Foundation will help people with arthritis across the U. Those are the hormones that help elevate energy levels. Walking can help your mental health. Studies show it can help reduce anxiety, depression, and a negative mood. It can also boost self-esteem and reduce symptoms of social withdrawal. To experience these benefits, aim for 30 minutes of brisk walking or other moderate intensity exercise three days a week.

You can also break it up into three minute walks. Walking at a faster pace could extend your life. Researchers found that walking at an average pace compared to a slow pace resulted in a 20 percent reduced risk of overall death. But walking at a brisk or fast pace at least 4 miles per hour reduced the risk by 24 percent. The study looked at the association of walking at a faster pace with factors like overall causes of death, cardiovascular disease, and death from cancer.

Walking can strengthen the muscles in your legs. To build up more strength, walk in a hilly area or on a treadmill with an incline. Or find routes with stairs. Also trade off walking with other cross-training activities like cycling or jogging.

You can also perform resistance exercises like squats, lunges, and leg curls to further tone and strengthen your leg muscles. A study that included four experiments compared people trying to think of new ideas while they were walking or sitting. Researchers found participants did better while walking, particularly while walking outdoors.

The researchers concluded that walking opens up a free flow of ideas and is a simple way to increase creativity and get physical activity at the same time. Choose a walking route near your home.

Or look for a scenic place to walk in your area, such as a trail or on the beach. You can also recruit a friend or family member to walk with you and hold you accountable. Alternatively, you can add walking into your daily routine. You can use it to measure your movement throughout a day and compare it to other days or to recommended amounts. This may motivate you to move more. The recommended number of steps accumulated per day to achieve health benefits is 10, steps or more.

Plan to cover a set distance each day and monitor how long it takes you to walk this distance. As your fitness improves, you will be able to walk a longer distance and use more energy. Instead, pace yourself so that you can still talk. This simple rule of thumb means that you walk safely within your target heart rate, which brings about health gains. Our bodies tend to get used to physical activity, so continue to increase your intensity as you are able to improve your fitness levels.

You can increase the intensity of your walks by:. The best way to warm up is to walk slowly. Start off each walk at a leisurely pace to give your muscles time to warm up, and then pick up the speed. Afterwards, gently stretch your leg muscles — particularly your calves and front and back thighs. Stretches should be held for about 20 seconds. If you feel any pain, ease off the stretch. Dressing too warmly can increase sweating and build up body temperature, which can make you uncomfortable during a walk or possibly cause skin irritations.

A gradual cool-down will also prevent muscular stiffness and injury. Walking is a low-cost and effective form of exercise. However, the wrong type of shoe or walking action can cause foot or shin pain, blisters and injuries to soft tissue. Make sure your shoes are comfortable, with appropriate heel and arch supports. Take light, easy steps and make sure your heel touches down before your toes.