To enjoy the health benefits of walking, all you need to do is get into comfortable footwear and start walking.
We were designed to walk for miles and miles to hunt and gather our food. Yet, these days, we spend most of our time sitting. At the end of the day, all we want to do when we come home from work is plop down on the couch for a Netflix marathon until bedtime. That is not good for our bodies as it leads to health problems.
So, getting and staying in the habit of going for a walk each day can be a bit of a challenge.
If you haven’t exercised in a while or are looking for an easy activity you can do daily, walking is the perfect low-impact exercise. Walking is fun, relaxing, and good for your health. You don’t need special equipment and you can begin at whatever fitness level you are at. Just wear a pair of comfortable shoes and you are ready go to. Even in bad weather, you can head to your local mall and walk around, or hop on a treadmill. You can also walk in place at home in front of your TV.
Let’s explore the benefits of walking on your health.
6 health benefits of walking every day
1. Walking Gets You Outside In the Fresh Air and Sunshine
No matter how fast or slow you walk, walking gets you outside and in the fresh air. This alone will make you feel better as your body absorbs the oxygen and sunshine. Both are important for your health and well-being.
Moreover, you can enjoy fresh air if you go for a walk at the beach or in a park. Added to this, the sunshine outside gives you your daily dose of Vitamin D.
2. Helps You Maintain A Healthy Weight
Walking regularly at a brisk pace helps lose those extra pounds and maintain a healthy weight. You still need to follow a healthy diet. The good news is, even if you are overweight, walking helps you burn calories, lose weight and increase your overall strength and endurance.
3. Improves Your Sense of Balance and Coordination
Try this simple exercise: Turn your head to the right and left as you walk for a count of 30, then move your head up and down for a count of 30. Doing this once or twice as you walk every day improves your sense of balance and coordination.
4. Strengthens Your Bones and Muscles
Despite being a low-impact form of exercise, walking strengthens and tones your body. If you’re just starting out, it is a great way to get into better shape. To get the best benefits of walking, as you get fitter, include weight-lifting exercises in your daily walks to increase stamina and develop strong muscles and bones.
5. Helps Lower Blood Pressure and Strengthens Your Heart
Most people at risk for stroke and heart disease are overweight, unhealthy and have a hard time exercising. Walking is easy and low-impact and a suitable workout almost anyone can do. Consider walking at a nearby park for the added benefit of lowering your stress while strengthening your heart.
To enjoy the benefits of walking, getting started is key. Begin with a 30-minute walk. After a week, increase it to 45 minutes at a brisker pace. You can also make your walking workout into 3 short sessions at different times during the day.
If you have high blood pressure or are at risk for heart disease, consult your doctor to come up with a plan that’s safe for you.
6. Improves Your Brain
Walking is an excellent way to improve mental health. Just a 20-30 minute walk every day during your lunch break can improve your brainpower. Let’s look at all the ways walking can boost your brain!
Lowers the Risk of Depression, improves cognitive function and memory and boosts mood
Studies show that any kind of moderate aerobic exercise like brisk walking can boost your brain health and lower your risk of developing depression by a third. Just ten minutes of walking releases endorphins that will help lift your mood, lower stress, and reduce depression. The next time you’re feeling tired or are in a bad mood, lace up your sneakers and go for a brisk walk.
Releases the Brain’s Magic Protein
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) has been dubbed the brain’s ‘magic protein’ as it helps to rewire and build new neural pathways and lower your risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. Cardiovascular exercise is an easy way to stimulate the production of BDNF and keep your brain in peak condition.
Lowers Physical and Mental Fatigue
A study by the University of Georgia found that just three sessions a week of low-intensity exercise like walking can reduce fatigue levels by as much as 65 percent.
Builds Hippocampus Strength
The hippocampus is the key part of the brain for forming and storing memories.
In a randomized controlled trial with 120 older adults, aerobic exercise training increases the size of the anterior hippocampus, leading to improvements in spatial memory. Exercise training increased hippocampal volume by 2%, effectively reversing age-related loss in volume by 1 to 2 y. Source
Improves Creativity
Artists, writers, and philosophers have long known the importance of walking for clearing blocked creativity and getting inspiration flowing again. Science can now back this up with a study by Stanford University showing that walking increases your creative output. It opens up the free flow of ideas, and is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.
Increases Blood Flow to the Brain
Blood is vital for every organ in your body, not least of all, your brain. That magic twenty minutes is all it takes to increase the blood flow to your brain to keep it active and healthy.
How to get into the habit of walking?
Here are some simple ideas to get you going and enjoy the health benefits of walking.
- While watching TV, get up during commercial breaks and march in place until your favorite TV show comes back on. If you’re using a service like Netflix, make yourself walk in place for 10 minutes in between episodes. Or turn on the TV and challenge yourself to march in place during the entire show. Time will fly while you’re having fun watching TV and moving.
- Take your pet for a walk every day.
- Start by finding a walking route you enjoy. Ideally, find a route in your neighborhood so you can leave right from your front door. Just lace up your shoes and start walking.
- Take the same route every day to begin with. It’s also encouraging to notice that you can walk the same loop faster or with less effort over time, helping you make a difference, and get stronger and increasingly fitter.
- Gradually, mix up your route and walk in different areas of town or visit different parks. Make it even more interesting by inviting a friend along to stay accountable. It’s much harder to skip a walking workout when you know that other people are waiting for you and relying on you to join them.
- Begin with a 10-15 minute walk and work your way up from there. As you progress, walk briskly and include some stair climbing or go uphill to amp up your fitness.
- Listen to music or audiobooks on your headphones as you walk and you won’t even know how the time went.
- Targeting that 45-minute walk isn’t always easy. For motivation, use a pedometer to track your steps. Your phone already has an inbuilt step tracker. If it doesn’t, download a free app that keeps track of your steps throughout the day. When you realize that you are just 2000 steps away from your daily goal, it will motivate you to head out for a stroll after lunch or dinner.
The important thing is to get started, move and exercise in a way that’s gentle on your joints, your heart, and the rest of your body—and walking is the ideal way. Get started today to enjoy the health benefits of walking.
6 Important Mental Health Benefits of Walking Every Day was last modified: March 25th, 2025 by
