Does walking count as exercise? Learn the great benefits of walking and get some tips on how to get outside more and incorporate walking in your daily life.
Does Walking Count as Exercise?
Yes! Walking can be a great way to stay healthy and fit. Here are some ways to do it more often and make it more enjoyable.
Ways to Get Outside More and Walk
1. Find your natural rhythm. Figure out the best times to walk for your schedule. Maybe it’s first thing in the morning. Or with your kids on the way to school. After lunch. Taking the dog out. After dinner. Before bedtime. With friends or family on the weekends.
2. Seize the opportunity whenever you can. Pay attention to how you can naturally incorporate walking into your life, rather than making it one more thing added to your busy schedule. Take the stairs instead of an elevator. Park a few blocks from your destinations. Ride transit (which usually involves a short walk on both ends of the trip). Swap the drive to the gym for a hike around the neighborhood. Run errands on foot. It all adds up.
3. Start small but think big. Be realistic in your goals. The CDCs recommended minimum — 30 minutes a day — makes a good beginning. Do it in two or three separate trips if you need to. Then you can work your way up to whatever distance feels best. Many people are now doing walk marathons or half-marathons.
4. Keep track of your progress. A pedometer, phone app or other device keeping tabs on how much you walk each day can be a handy tool. Fitness experts recommend 10,000 steps a day, but that can vary depending on personal factors. Americans on average walk about 5,110 steps a day.
5. Identify as a walker. Walkers are athletes, too. It’s a good exercise and an enjoyable pastime, the same as biking or basketball. Claim it as your sport, and you may find you’ll walk more often.
6. Make your walk enjoyable. Find a route that’s interesting, perhaps paired with a favorite destination, such as a coffee shop, park, or a great view. Wear walking gear that’s comfortable and that you feel good in. Don’t set overly tough goals at first. “If you’re slogging through something you don’t enjoy, you won’t stick with it,” says David W. Brock, assistant professor of exercise and movement science at the University of Vermont.
7. Invigorate your social life. Suggest a walking “date” with your partner, friends, or family. Invite dinner guests to stroll around the block after a hearty meal. Instead of meeting someone for lunch, a drink, or a movie, begin the occasion with a walk before you sit down together. In New York City, for instance, it’s a longstanding tradition for folks to walk together through Central Park or along the Brooklyn Promenade. In San Antonio, it’s the Riverwalk. What would be the equivalent activity in your town?
Most people’s vacations are built around walks — hiking in the woods or mountains, ambling on the beach, strolling through historic neighborhoods, wandering all over theme parks or the state fair. Why not maintain that vacation spirit all year by regularly walking with family and friends?
8. Try a walking meeting. Instead of gathering around a table, walk around the block. You’ll likely see a spike in people’s creativity and attention. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey both favor walking meetings, as did Steve Jobs, Sigmund Freud, and Aristotle. Prominent corporate consultant Nilofer Merchant explains how it works in this TED Talk. Because 80 percent of Americans get very little physical activity in their jobs, this could be a giant boost for the nation’s health.
9. Organize a walking group. Round up co-workers for a lunchtime hike. Grab the neighbors for an evening stroll. You’ll walk more often and more merrily when you share the journey. Think of it as a book club with no homework.
Thirty walking groups were launched in Albert Lea, Minnesota in 2009 as part of a community-wide campaign to improve health. Six years later, more than half are still going, with 4 to 10 people meeting to walk three to seven times a week. Girl Trek, a growing movement dedicated to support Black women’s health and well-being, has launched walking groups from Oakland to Philadelphia involving more than 10,000 women.
10. Join the walking movement. Americans’ growing interest in walking has sparked a national movement to encourage people to walk more and to make our communities more walkable. America Walks, a coalition of more than 530 walking advocacy organizations that covers all 50 states, can connect you with a walking group in your area.
Jay Walljasper, author of The Great Neighborhood Book, writes, speaks and consults on how to create better communities. Contact him via email.
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