We all know that walking is good for our health, but just how important is it, and how much should we be walking? 

Walking is a great way to add some physical activity and exercise to your day as it is low cost and accessible to a wide range of people. There are countless benefits associated with regular walking including; improved cardiovascular health, prevention of Type 2 Diabetes, decreased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, improved sleep and increased longevity. 

It is able to help improve your cardiovascular health by impacting circulatory, immune and cardiopulmonary function. 

Walking is also beneficial for your bones! It can help reduce the rate of bone loss, increase bone density and reduce the risk of fractures. For the best effect, especially in menopausal or perimenopausal women, it is best paired with muscle strengthening and resistance exercise as well as balance exercises. 

Mental and social benefits of walking

Walking can aid in emotional and psychological well being, with it being associated with reduced risk of depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions, whilst improving your mood. It is also a great way to remain social and active within your community, whilst also boosting creative inspiration. Stuck on what project to do next or what colour to paint with? Maybe a walk is the answer! 

Should I be getting 10,000 steps?

There is often the narrative that 10,000 steps is the number that everyone should be aiming for when it comes to walking. While it is a good idea to have a goal to walk towards, that number doesn’t work for everyone. 8,000 – 10,000 steps can have positive effects on your health, and for those with a low step count, focusing on just increasing the step count can have a protective health outcome. Have you ever been on a walk with someone that is a different height to you? Were you easily strolling ahead, or struggling to keep up? Stride length can be a big contributor to how many steps you are taking. As you age, the recommendations can also change, for example, in those aged over 60, taking as few as 6000 was shown to be associated with reduced mortality risk. In these cases cadence (how many steps per minute) can be more important than how many steps are taken overall.

With all that said – how many steps should you be taking? If it is all a bit confusing and you aren’t a numbers or tracking person – instead try aiming to walk for 30 minutes, 5 days a week at a brisk pace. This is the amount shown to have the greatest benefit and is in line with Australian Activity Guidelines. 

Ideas to get extra walking in

Life can get busy and sometimes setting aside 30 minutes to go for a walk seems impossible. Whilst the greatest benefits are seen when walking at a brisk pace for over 21 minutes, there are smaller steps you can take to help increase your overall levels of physical activity, by doing more incidental walking. 

• Parking further away from the entrance in a car park 
• Take the stairs instead of using an elevator
• When completing errands, see if you can walk between two of them instead of driving, same goes for grabbing that cup of coffee!
• Walk and talk. Been meaning to call a family member or a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while? Give them a call and go for a walk, even just around the house if you can

The health benefits from walking are just a hop, skip and a jump away, so dive into making walking a priority for you! 

If there is something preventing you from being active, come and see one of our helpful practitioners here at Blackburn Allied Health Group.