Why walking is the ultimate free workout: Boost your health in just 30 minutes
A daily brisk walk can significantly improve cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure
Fast, fast, keep walking, and stop looking at your phone!
That’s the refrain for Dubai’s mother-daughter duo, Aditi and Anaya Sen. The latter chuckles as she recalls misunderstanding her mother’s invitation for a walk. “I thought we’d take a leisurely stroll around the neighbourhood,” she says. “I couldn’t have been more wrong. My mum walks at such a brisk pace, and she insists that I keep up with her.”
As she mentions, now they don’t return home until they’ve completed a solid 10,000 steps. Yet, despite her initial reluctance, Sen can’t deny the positive changes she’s noticed in herself. “On a personal level, I can say that I’ve lost weight. I sleep properly, and I somehow wake up more refreshed, rather than sluggish, which is what was happening earlier.”
As Sen and many others vouch, walking truly might just be the medicine for you.
You don’t even need a gym membership. Lace up your sneakers and hit the sidewalk.
Why walking is good for you
It’s no surprise that a doctor’s prescription might include just walking, as it includes a wide range of benefits. As Mathilde Valade, an osteopath at Dubai’s Wellth Clinic, explains, a daily brisk walk can significantly improve cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of heart disease - helping to ward off chronic illness. Additionally, it supports weight management by burning calories and regulating weight, depending on the intensity and duration of the walk.. “It strengthens muscles, especially in the legs, enhances joint flexibility,” says Valde.
Walking improves cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol, and decreasing the risk of heart disease. It also supports weight management, as it burns calories and helps control weight depending on the intensity and duration. Walking strengthens muscles, especially in the legs, enhances joint flexibility...
It's a ‘powerful and free’ way to improve your health, says Ahmad Azmy, a specialist in the Orthopaedic Department of Medcare Sharjah. “Just around 30 minutes a day can reduce heart disease risk by 19 per cent boost mood, build muscle, and sharpen your mind.”
Walking also repairs the body; it improves circulation and oxygenates the muscles, explains Karl Dariane, founder, FlexoFix, a physiotherapy rehabilitation clinic, Dubai. “It’s a low impact exercise that’s gentle on the joints, and every movement helps the blood circulation of the body. It flushes down the lactic acid that can tend to build up in the joints and cause a lot of soreness,” he says. “It fires up the cells, and utilises the fat in the body to burn calories. The more you walk, the stronger your muscle memory becomes, and fat begins to burn more efficiently." Furthermore, as Valentina Tura, Osteopath and Partner at Osteopathic Perfect Balance Medical Center, Abu Dhabi, explains, walking is even more important for women in the perimenopause or menopausal stage, as walking helps to regulate the hormones and also to stimulate the bones to the move and ultimately grow stronger.
For the heart and lungs
In fact, the numbers speak volumes: In 2017, a study in US-based Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that regular moderate exercise, like brisk walking, improved heart health by lowering inflammation and reducing the risk of heart disease. People who walked daily saw a measurable decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol levels, both critical factors in heart health.
Moreover, in 2023, US-based Harvard researchers examined 32 genes linked to obesity in more than 12,000 people to see their impact on body weight. Among participants who walked briskly for about an hour daily, the influence of these genes was reduced by half. The takeaway is that even if you have genes that increase your risk for obesity, regular physical activity - like walking briskly for an hour a day - can significantly reduce their impact. In this study, daily brisk walking cut the genetic influence on body weight by 50 per cent, highlighting that lifestyle choices can help counteract genetic predispositions to obesity.
Walking can also curb your sweet cravings: A couple of studies from the University of Exeter found that a 15-minute walk can curb cravings for chocolate and even reduce the amount of chocolate you eat in stressful situations.
Similarly, the research conducted by US-based National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) over the past decade, shows that walking strengthens the heart, lungs, increases blood flow, improves oxygenation, strengthens blood vessel function, and supports overall cardiovascular health. In fact, there are ongoing studies that provide promising evidence that moderate aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, can reduce the risk of coronary artery disease and improve heart and lung function.
How to walk for your health
A leisurely walk can stimulate your creativity, but if weight loss is your goal, it’s important to pick up the pace. According to Amy Gilbert, physiotherapist and founder of Perfect Balance Rehabilitation Center, Abu Dhabi, a good indicator is when you start to sweat lightly.
She explains, “Breaking a bit of a sweat is the marker, when you’re walking. If you can still hold a conversation, but feel a bit out of breath, you're challenging your cardiovascular system. Your heart works harder, circulation improves, and your muscles demand more.” This is vital if you're looking to break free from a sedentary lifestyle.
Breaking a bit of a sweat is the marker, when you’re walking. If you can still hold a conversation, but feel a bit out of breath, you're challenging your cardiovascular system. Your heart works harder, circulation improves, and your muscles demand more...
Furthermore, while walking at a brisk pace provides immediate physical benefits, it also plays a crucial role in improving your cardiovascular fitness over time. One way to measure how well your body is adapting to these changes is by looking at your VO2 max, a key indicator of your cardiovascular efficiency.
The science of oxygen: How walking improves VO2 Max
Well, simply put, if you can talk, but can’t sing yet, that means you’ve done moderate amount of exercise, which strengthens your heart, builds mitochondria, and fuels your muscles, explains Sam Shay, an Abu Dhabi-based cardiologist. He explains further: VO2 max is the gold standard for measuring fitness; it shows how much oxygen your body uses during intense exercise and predicts lifespan. Even light activity, like slow walking, can improve VO2 max slightly compared to being completely inactive, according to a 2021 Harvard study of 2,000 middle-aged adults. However, greater benefits come from faster walking, which increases your heart rate and breathing.
A higher VO2 max indicates better fitness and endurance, as your body can supply and use more oxygen, helping you perform more strenuous physical activities. VO2 max is often used by athletes to gauge and improve performance, but it’s also a valuable health indicator, as higher VO2 max levels are associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease and longer life expectancy.
What’s the heart rate you need for a good walk?
There’s no one-size-fits-all, says Azmy. “Your target heart rate depends on your age and fitness goals. For a fat-burning walk, aim for 50-70 per cent of your max heart rate. For example, at age 30, that’s 95-133 beats per minute. To increase intensity, go for 70-85 per cent of your max for a cardio boost.” In other words, this is the ideal range for moderate-intensity exercise, where your body burns a higher percentage of calories from fat. At this intensity, you're moving briskly enough to increase your heart rate but not so fast that you can't maintain the pace. To further challenge your cardiovascular system and improve your fitness, you can aim for a higher intensity level. This range is where you're pushing your heart rate into the higher zone, improving endurance and overall heart health.
Gilbert points out, “Heart rate is different for everybody, based on their past medical history, what medication they’re taking and their age. So providing a specific heart rate, or what you should achieve when walking, isn’t necessarily the important part. The important part, is just getting out and moving.”
Quality over quantity: Steps aren’t everything
How many steps are enough to boost your health? Is more always better? Azmy shares his insights, “The magic number experts recommend is 10,000 steps a day. It sounds like a lot, but it's not that hard to achieve! Think about it: A brisk 30-minute walk can rack up about 3,000 to 4,000 steps. Do that twice a day, and you're sorted.”
He advises, don’t be worried if you can’t hit 10k right away. Start with a goal of 5,000 and work your way up.
A recent study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that as few as 2,200 steps a day can help combat health issues linked to a sedentary lifestyle, like heart disease and diabetes. Walking up to 9,000 steps proves to be even more beneficial.
Your target heart rate depends on your age and fitness goals. For a fat-burning walk, aim for 50-70 per cent of your max heart rate. For example, at age 30, that’s 95-133 beats per minute. To increase intensity, go for 70-85 per cent of your max for a cardio boost...
However, Shay believes that the quality of the walk is more important than the steps itself. “Here’s the catch - focusing only on the step count doesn’t give you the full picture. Experts now say that the type of steps you take matters just as much as the number. Whether you’re hitting that 2,200-step minimum or surpassing the 10,000-step mark, it's the quality of your walk that can make all the difference,” says Shay.
Shay provides a few essential tips to make the best of your walk:
• Push yourself to walk faster and breathe harder, as this isn’t just about burning more calories - it’s about boosting your cardiovascular health. A 2022 study in US-based journal Nature found that walking at a faster pace can significantly reduce the risk of conditions like sleep apnea, acid reflux, diabetes, and hypertension.
• Start with short bursts of faster walking - aim for 30 seconds to a minute at a time. As you build endurance, gradually increase the duration and frequency of these bursts to enhance your cardiovascular fitness even further.
• Try walking uphill, as that targets different muscles. The aim is to add bursts of intense activity into your walk, rather than sticking to a steady, moderate pace. Incorporating these vigorous intervals helps improve cardiovascular fitness and offers a more significant health benefit than walking at a constant pace.
• Carry weights. If you want to increase the intensity of your walk, try carrying weight in your backpack. It helps in strength training and increasing your heart rate.
Finally, what footwear to wear for a walk?
You need to choose the right footwear, as the wrong shoes can cause several problems. Dariane advises to avoid shoes that are too tight as that might restrict the blood flow. Skip the soft shoes too, as they lack the necessary support and stability required for more intense activity. Brisk walking generates a greater impact on the joints and muscles, and soft shoes don’t provide the structure needed to properly absorb shock or guide the foot through the walking motion.
Stand tall: Keep your head up, chin parallel to the ground, with your gaze looking forward.
Shoulders: Relax your shoulders, gently pulling them down and back to avoid hunching or tension.
Core engagement: Engage your core muscles lightly to support your spine and maintain good posture.
2. Heel-to-toe roll
Heel strike: Start by landing gently on your heel with each step. Avoid stomping or landing flat-footed.
Foot roll: Allow your foot to roll from the heel through the midfoot to the toes. This smooth heel-to-toe motion helps absorb impact and provides a natural momentum.
Push off with toes: Push off with your toes at the end of each step for extra power and forward motion.
3. Natural arm swing
Elbows bent: Keep your elbows bent at around a 90-degree angle.
Swing opposite arm and leg: Swing your right arm forward as your left foot steps, and vice versa. This natural cross-body motion helps maintain balance and rhythm.
Don’t over-swing: Swing your arms naturally, not too high or across your body.
4. Foot placement
Feet parallel: Aim to place your feet parallel and pointing forward, which helps protect your knees and hips.
Avoid overstriding: Keep your steps natural and within a comfortable length. Overstriding (taking steps that are too long) can put stress on your legs and joints.
5. Breath control
Deep, steady breaths: Breathe deeply and rhythmically, which helps keep your body oxygenated and relaxed, and aligns your pace with your breathing.
6. Pace and rhythm
Find your comfortable pace: Aim for a pace that feels sustainable. A brisk but relaxed rhythm helps maximise the health benefits of walking.
Use cadence: Some walkers find it helpful to use a cadence or rhythm, syncing each step with their breathing or mentally counting to help maintain a steady pace.
And ditch the flip-flops and heels, explain Azmy and Gilbert. “I would say, make sure that you're going out and ideally, wearing, a trainer as your best choice, rather than going out in a flip flop, for example, that increases your risk of tripping over, doesn't have great support and wearing a trainer that just gives you arch support,” says Gilbert. Moreover, as you might walk on tarmac, paved floors, having a bit of shock absorbency there is also useful.