Those closest to me and those who follow me know that walking has been my go to exercise for almost a decade. It’s something I look forward to every single day especially when I get to walk with my four-legged fitness buddy, Olive. You may have read my previous blog explaining how “it all started with just 15 minutes on the treadmill.” That was then, this is now and these days, I walk at least 4 miles every single day, either on the treadmill, outside with my Olive (my preference) or a combination of both.
I’m living proof that walking is a really good form of exercise and helped me reach my fitness and weight loss goals, it helped Olive keep her girlish figure (haha) and, it can help you too! In fact, for me walking is way better than running and it can be for many people! For example, if you have knee, ankle, back or hip pain or are obese, walking could be a very good exercise choice for you. It’s inexpensive, doesn’t require any equipment (except a good pair of shoes) and is considered a low impact exercise so most of us really can do it relatively easily.
For me, walking helps me improve my overall fitness and strength, and helps me reduce my stress level and blood pressure. It improves my mood especially when I’m out in nature with my furry friend (pictured with me above). Walking helped me reduce pain in my lower back, my sciatic, my knee and helped me reduce my weight (in total, a loss of 140 lbs.) and continues to help me maintain a healthy weight to this day. It also helped me improve my posture, lowered my cholesterol and helped me recover from an illness and subsequent surgery relatively quickly, not to mention improving my overall energy levels and endurance.
There is plenty of research stating that walking can help reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke and can reduce the number of days in the hospital for those who walk as compared to those who do no physical activity. I always tell my mother that a body in motion stays in motion and frankly the research totally supports that! The research out there also backs up the effectiveness of walking as part of a regular workout plan.
Not to be outshined by the physical aspects of walking are the mental benefits. The boost in mood by adding a walk to your daily routine is immediate. It helps me to be more creative and opens a flow of new ideas because it allows my mind to wander. I find that just 15 minutes of walking boosts my happiness, and mental clarity. And weirdly, it also improves my ability to remember things!
Often when I walk, I use the time to meditate. Which doesn’t mean I’m walking slow or with my eyes closed, it means I’m just focused on the walk itself instead of letting my head and thoughts take over. I notice the pace of the walk, I notice my feet on the trail, I notice the sounds around me, the giggling of kids at the park or the crunch of the rocks beneath my hiking boots, the breath of my dog beside me, or the birds chirping. I like to focus on my breathing, especially when my head is full of “stuff” that happened throughout the day. It helps me to get in the moment. I control my inhale and exhale taking longer and more intentional breaths and that coupled with the walk just makes my stress melt away and allows me to feel with my heart and not think with my head.
The thing is, we all need to start where we are. I started with just 15 minutes of walking a day (about a ¼ mile), and now I’m walking and/or hiking 4-8 miles of varying intensity every day. Walking has become my daily “base exercise” and I don’t feel like myself if I don’t get my walk in. So for my own mental and physical well being, I do it every single day (rain, shine or sometimes even snow).
One thing I do to add different challenges and burn more calories during my walk is to fluctuate my heart rate. You may be asking, how in the heck do I do that? It’s super easy. One way is walking up-hill, then down-hill, then up-hill, then down, and so on over and over again. But of course that depends on the trail you are blazing. And this is really aimed at more advance “walkers.” So if you are new to walking or if that hilly terrain isn’t available to you or you aren’t quite ready for that kind of challenge, you can get the same effect on flat terrain by walking faster, then slower, then faster, then slower and so on. Or by taking larger steps, then smaller ones, alternating back and forth or even walking sideways or even backwards. And if you want to get totally crazy with it, you can also wear ankle weights so you are essentially pulling more weight. Or even carry hand held weights to work the upper body while you walk. I generally don’t do weights when in nature, but I do it when I’m walking on the treadmill at least once or twice a week.
One of my favorite things to do is plug in my headphones and create different playlists on my phone with slower and faster beats and then I alter my pace to the beat of the song playing while I walk. This encourages variation in my walking speed, and engages different muscles when walking faster then slower. Each song is 2-5 minutes so it’s a form interval training, 2-5 minutes at the slower pace then 2-5 minutes at a faster pace and so on.
If on a treadmill, you can play with the speed and incline to raise and lower your heart rate. For example, I typically walk 3.3 MPH with a 8% incline then I drop down to 3 MPH at a 4% incline, then up to 3.5 MPH at a 10% incline and so on. The higher the incline, the more energy my body expends to engage my glutes, quads and calves and because of expending more energy, I burn more calories and fat. And it’s also good for my lungs and cardiovascular system in general, similar to running without killing my back or knees. Many treadmills have programs that are pre-installed to give you this very kind of workout.
I’ve also learned that I try not to set the incline or pace on the treadmill so high or fast that it forces me to hang on for dear life. When we hang on, we take away from the muscle engagement and simply don’t burn as much energy when hanging on vs not hanging on.
I mentioned that I do weights once a week when walking on my treadmill. Sometimes it’s 2 lb ankle weights and sometimes it’s 5 lb. hand held weights. I find no more than a mile with the extra weights on my ankles is more than enough (I can sure feel the extra weight) and I do a few reps of arm exercises with weights (working biceps and triceps). I find that anytime I raise my arms/hands over my heart/head, my heart rate goes up.
These days, many people think that walking 10,000 steps a day is the benchmark for any kind of benefit of walking as a workout. But that simply isn’t true. In fact, that benchmark was part of a marketing campaign (wouldn’t you know). While it’s great if you can get 10,000 steps a day there is no evidence that 10,000 steps is a magic number for your daily goal. Your goal is to do what’s right for you and your body.
Doing what is right for you and your body takes us back to the point I made earlier starting where you are. If you aren’t moving much, then the main thing is to start moving more. You’ll be amazed how just a little bit of walking can make you feel so good. And if you pay attention to that feeling, you’ll probably want to do it more. That’s how it worked for me! As with most things in this life, the hardest part is starting!
Note that running isn’t always better than walking in terms of physical fitness. Especially as we age. Certainly walking is easier on the body than running and there is less chance for injury (back to those achy knees, back or ankles). And especially if you are obese, walking around carrying all that extra weight is hard enough on the body…making the body run with all that extra weight is even harder. Remember when I was talking about wearing 2lb ankle weights and how I felt those extra pounds after just a mile? Think about carrying around an extra 50lbs. or even 100lbs. (or in my case 140 lbs.). It’s CRAZY thinking about that now. No wonder I never wanted to move my body, it was really hard work. I digress…anyway, I feel that in this life, there are runners and there are walkers. And I’m a walker, and proud of it!
Based on the mountains of research I’ve read, I have learned that the many benefits of walking are as follows:
- Maintain healthy weight and lose body fat
- Prevent or manage conditions such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and so on
- Improves posture
- Boosts self confidence
- Improves cardiovascular and endurance
- Strengthens bones & muscles
- Increases energy levels
- Raises your overall vibration
- Helps tame a sweet tooth
- Eases joint pain
- Keeps your body in motion
- Lifts spirits
- Boosts immune system
- Aids digestion
- Gets the blood flowing
- Helps reduce or prevent varicose veins
- Helps you sleep better
- Sparks creativity
- Improves mental clarity
With all the benefits physically and mentally, I hope you see why we shouldn’t write off the value of walking as a workout. Even if you walk a quarter mile round trip to get the mail (yes, that’s for you Mom) it’s movement and it’s good for you at any age (just ask your doc, I’m sure they will tell you that walking is good for you)!
With the notion of starting where you are, what can you do today to start your new walking routine? Now put down this titillating article, and go for a walk, even if it’s just around the block! And take your furry friend, or your partner, and/or your headphones…you’ll be glad you did.
Click HERE to meet my Olive!
The journey to a healthier, happier you is so worth it. I know—because I lived it. I stopped chasing skinny and started focusing on my health—and that single shift changed everything. I lost 140 pounds, but more importantly, I found clarity, energy, and a life that finally feels like mine. I share the whole story in my book. Click HERE to learn more.
