We all know walking is good for us. But here’s the thing: most of us are probably doing it wrong. Not wrong in a dangerous way, but wrong in the sense that we’re leaving so much potential on the table.
Matthew Nolan, a chief instructor at Barry’s in New York City, puts it pretty bluntly. Walking improves cardiovascular health, strengthens your heart, helps with circulation, and lowers blood pressure. It can even help prevent heart disease and stroke. On the mental health side, those endorphins flooding your system will boost your mood in ways that scrolling through social media never will.
But that’s just scratching the surface. Daily walking builds bone and muscle strength, improves joint health, and can actually help people dealing with chronic lower back pain or knee issues. Tyler Moldoff, a physical therapist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, says recent research shows that walking, when done properly, is an exceptional form of exercise.
So what does “properly” mean? According to Moldoff, you need 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. That’s at least 30 minutes of walking, five days a week, aiming for somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 steps daily. Once you hit those numbers consistently, you’re ready to level up.
Match Your Steps to the Beat
The U.S. government says adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly. That includes brisk walking, not your leisurely window-shopping pace.
Moldoff has a clever trick for this. Instead of obsessing over your heart rate monitor, just queue up a song that’s about 100 beats per minute and match your steps to the rhythm. You can find playlists on Spotify or Apple Music organized by tempo. After a few minutes of walking to that beat, you’ll notice your breathing picking up. That’s the moderate intensity you’re after.
If 100 BPM feels too easy, bump it up to 110 or 120. The music makes the whole thing more enjoyable anyway, which means you’re more likely to stick with it. And consistency matters more than anything else when it comes to building a sustainable fitness routine.
Intervals Aren’t Just for Runners
If maintaining a fast pace for your entire walk sounds exhausting, you don’t have to do that. Nolan suggests borrowing from Barry’s interval-based training approach. Just throw in short bursts of faster walking or light jogging during your regular route.
Start small. Maybe a 30-second jog here, a minute-long speed walk there. When your body adjusts, increase the duration. You could also carry light weights or stop at certain points to knock out squats, lunges, or pushups. Plan your route in advance and pick specific landmarks where you’ll do these exercises. Your driveway, a park bench, whatever works.
Writing it down beforehand helps you actually follow through instead of conveniently “forgetting” to do those pushups. Mix up your strength exercises to hit different muscle groups. Five pushups, 15 crunches, a one-minute plank, repeated three times. Or whatever combination doesn’t make you want to quit immediately.
Add Weight Without Lifting Weights
Walking with a weighted vest or a backpack full of books sounds slightly ridiculous until you understand what it does. Moldoff explains that the extra weight increases your metabolic rate, improves oxygen consumption, burns more calories, and strengthens your leg muscles.
You don’t need fancy equipment. An old backpack and some heavy textbooks you’ve been meaning to donate will do the trick. Just make sure the weight is distributed evenly so you’re not throwing your posture out of whack.
Hills Are Your Secret Weapon
Find a route with some elevation changes. Walking downhill, which sounds easier, actually improves muscle strength in your lower body while putting less stress on your cardiovascular system. You’ll breathe easier, your heart rate stays more comfortable, but you’re still building muscle more effectively than walking on flat ground.
Walking uphill does the opposite. It challenges your cardiovascular system and, surprisingly, some research suggests it’s actually beneficial for people with knee joint problems. So whether you’re going up or down, hills make your walk better.
Nolan stresses that consistency beats intensity every time. Walking regularly, at least 30 minutes most days of the week, delivers real benefits. But you need to listen to your body. Take rest days when you need them, and don’t push through actual pain.
It takes time to build up the strength and endurance for these challenges. That’s completely normal. The point isn’t to transform into an ultra-marathoner overnight. The point is to stop treating your daily walk like an afterthought and start treating it like the powerful tool for lifestyle improvement that it actually is.
