8 Health Benefits of a Daily Walk — I enjoy my daily walks with Lucy. Sometimes I joke that she would be more than ready to walk a marathon if I ever took her along for one! And I’d keep on walking even if I didn’t know that it was so awesome for my health. But since I do, it’s an added bonus to keep on moving. While there are countless ways walking helps you, here are my top 8 health benefits of a daily walk.
Weight loss:
Walking burns calories. A calorie deficit helps you lose weight. If you walk often and watch what you eat, dropping a few pounds is a big bonus! Plus, the beauty of walking is I never feel like I’m working out like I would if I was huffing and puffing at the gym {which I never would be since gyms aren’t my thing!}.
Even if you don’t head out for a walk, the recommended number of daily steps is 10,000. 10,000 steps roughly equates to 5 miles. So we should be walking about 5 miles per day, just as we’re out and about completing our daily activities. That’s a great start to walking for weight loss!
Stronger bones:
And muscles, too! The muscle thing is kind of obvious because we all know that muscles are strengtheed by using them, but the bone thing was news to me. Basically, bone density is built through exercise like walking, so people who do it have healthier, stronger bones than people who don’t.
There’s an Oxford study that proved there’s science behind that!
Reduced risk of diabetes:
According to the American Diabetes Association, frequent {or any walking really} helps lower your blood sugar levels as well as your overall risk for Type 2 diabetes.
So if it runs in your family or if it’s something you are nervous about, strap on your running shoes and get to steppin’! {While Type 1 diabetics can still benefit because walking helps stabilize blood sugar, sadly walking has no affect on a reduced diagnosis of juvenile diabetes}.
It makes you smarter:
No seriously! Walking has been proven to improve cognitive function, memory, creativity, logic and academic success according to all sorts of studies, like this one. Looks like a walk a day keeps the dummy away!!
Longer life:
This one is pretty awesome. Who knew that a simple 20 minute walk a day could help you live longer! Just being moderately active {that’s that 20 minute walk I was talking about} can reduce the number of deaths in the average adult by about 7%.
That’s kind of a big deal! They are talking brisker walking than just walking from room to room looking for your phone {anyone else exert a lot of energy each day doing this?}.
Reduced blood pressure:
Walking helps reduce blood pressure naturally {up to 11 points on average which is crazy talk!}. Since high blood pressure and heart disease go hand in hand, that’s a biggie! Routine walking also helps reduce the risk of strokes by between 20 and 40%!
It’s good for mental health:
Walking makes me happy. And it’s actually a proven thing. , an MD says, “Research shows that regular walking actually modifies your nervous system so much that you’ll experience a decrease in anger and hostility.” So basically you can walk the anger right out of your system.
I don’t know about you but I could really use more happy people in my life and in this world!
Reduced stress:
Reducing the stress hormone cortisol reduces your overall stress level. And guess what helps reduce that? Yep. Walking! I find that I am automatically calmer when I am outdoors for a walk. I can clear my mind, breath in deep fresh air, lower my pulse rate, and really work on calming my overactive brain!!
So the next time you are stressed to the max, carve a few minutes out of your day and head out on a walk. Trust me on this one {no fancy study here to link to, although I’m sure there a dozens that back up what I’ve learned to be true through experience!}.
So there you have it. All sorts of reason that walking is the best thing since sliced bread!
Walk on,
~Mavis
You can find more of my helpful tips HERE.
Jen says
Love the message— I bet a lot of people don’t know about the improved mental health aspects of adding exercise to their day. I peeked at your links, and it looks like the blood pressure improvement is up to 11 points, not “up to 11% on average”. That could be more than double what the article stated (which would be awesome, right!?).
I’ll be walking as soon as the frost melts bad fog clears later! Have a great day Mavis!
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks for catching the typo Jen. 😉 I fixed it.
Brianna says
I am the crazy Mom who has always walked with her kids to and from school or bus stop rain or shine. It makes me get out of the house and I think my kids do better in school with the fresh air and movement. I enjoy it and I feel it is a good way to start my day. I believe any movement counts and it is easy to get caught up into excuses not to get your body moving. I just wish walking reduced PMS! I don’t know if it is kids, age, or more responsibility, but the older I have gotten the worse it gets. Diabetes is becoming commonplace with everybody I know and many of those are active, normal weight, and eat a minimally processed diet, so I believe there are many other influences. It is always shocking to me because it isn’t the people I’d expect to have diabetes. I know my risks, any type of prevention is better than none. The other worry I have is that I feel my kids are less active than I was as a kid growing up because there is just so much indoor activities for them to do and a lack of motivation to go outside. It’s embarassing, but my kids don’t really know how to play outside. We moved from a huge city to a rural country area and they just stand out there. I’ve installed a zip line and a trampoline and a huge sand box with tons of trucks and toys and they still haven’t a clue what to do. I’m hoping for the day my kids get dirty! Anyhow, I feel their less active Generation is going to see a lot of these health problems above from not playing or walking outside as often. My kids are the only ones who all to and from the bus stop. Parents need to let their kids walk to the bus stop or school.
Carrie says
Lead by example. Get out there and play with them! Teach them to climb trees and make mud pies. Have them help collect sticks and have a fire that night and roast s’mores.
Helen in meridian says
Tonight there are two Send For the MidWife christmas shows on PBS. Hope you can catch them. Hope you are healing up for Friday’s marathon of The Crown. She has been on all the talk show circuit promoting their last year playing the part. It will continue with older actors afte this year.
Mavis Butterfield says
I am totally set for The Crown Marathon… I think I’m going to start at 9 am. I had no idea about the next season and the older actors…. Interesting!
Jen says
Totally ready for the Crown binge Friday!! Maybe I’ll take breaks to walk…
Julia says
I love love love to walk! Rain or shine hot or cold. Wish my family liked it as much as I do but oh well. I do find ways to lure them out. My son loves to fish and he is into photography. So we hike to more remote fishing spots and trail hike for cool photo ops. I have long extolled the many benefits of a simple walk.
Another plus if you walk where there are trees is the idea of Forest Bathing. Researchers have discovered that trees release a chemical we absorb that decreases our stress. How cool is that!
Lace Faerie says
My Mama sent us OUT to play every morning after breakfast. I grew up on a horse ranch and had 42 acres to roam in. We had a pond to play in. Catching pollywogs and newts. We played “restaurant” and “store” in old crumbling farm structure. We rode horses bareback when we could catch them. We climbed all over a rusty old tractor. We played in the barn climbing hay bales. I can’t count the times we had to strip before Mama let us back in the house as we were mud head to toes.
My kids grew up in a semi-rural neighborhood with woods across the street. They hated it when I sent them outside and said ‘go play’ and wouldn’t let them back inside. Now, in their late twenties, they have each separately thanked me for making them play outside without expensive toys. They are amazed at how many of their peers had their every waking moment choreographed and have never been filthy or played in the mud! My son thinks it contributed to his ability to solve/foresee problems and make his mind more nimble. As well as instill a life long love of movement and being active out of doors. GET THEE OUTSIDE!
Peg says
I have walked 5 days/week since before our children were in school (they are now 36 and 34). I’m an early morning walker, almost always back home while it is still dark. I miss days in the winter due to bad weather, but try to make up for it by being more active at home. If I’m out, I will stop to walk at the mall or lowes or menards, but won’t go out special to walk indoors. I can really tell by my mood if I’ve had to miss days. Due to multiple family members serious health issues since 2019, walking has truly kept me sane.
debbie in alaska says
“can reduce the number of deaths in the average adult by about 7%.”
I giggled reading this because I read it as the number of deaths per adult — like we die more than once 🙂
dogs definitely help humans walk more!
Heidi N. says
My kids and I walk 5 days per week during the summer & on school breaks. We all love it & I know that I feel much better when we are walking regularly. Fresh air & sunshine are great mood-boosters!
SueD says
I miss walking, and need to get back to doing it. Up until 2019, I walked 1-2 miles a day with my dog. Then my knees got too bad, culminating in both being replaced, 7 months apart, in 2020. Lost my walking companion in ‘21. The grandpuppy does not make for enjoyable walks, as I need to be constantly super vigilant. I do walk a fair bit around the house, but it’s not enough. My plan is to get another puppy, and have a walking companion again. Going on walk with the OH is not an option. I walk reasonably fast, but he thinks it’s a race
Jules says
I have found walking after supper each night helps keep my weight manageable. I miss it on those evenings I don’t make it out to walk.