15 Major Benefits of Walking, According to Health Experts

An arsenal of research suggests that walking is good for your body and mind. Studies have shown that taking a regular stroll helps lower blood pressure, improves cognition, and even promotes heart health.

“Walking is an easy-to-do exercise that has so many benefits with very little risk of injury or death,” says Adam Mills, M.S.E.d., R.C.E.P., exercise physiologist and cycling coach at Source Endurance. But what exactly are the major benefits of walking, and where do you start?

The key is in the time spent—at least 30 minutes a day to get all of the benefits, according to Melina B. Jampolis, M.D., author of The Doctor on Demand Diet. “Walking can reduce rates of chronic disease,” Mills explains.

Meet the experts: Adam Mills, M.S.E.d., R.C.E.P., exercise physiologist and cycling coach at Source Endurance;Denise Austin, a fitness expert and author of Denise Austin’s Daily Dozen; Melina B. Jampolis, M.D., author of The Doctor on Demand Diet; Ariel Iasevoli, an ACE-certified personal trainer in New York City; Michele Stanten, an ACE-certified fitness instructor, walking coach, and author of Prevention’s Walk Your Way to Better Health; Albert Matheny, R.D., C.S.C.S., a co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab, and others.

Fitness pro and icon Denise Austin loves to walk. “It’s amazing for stress relief and enjoying a little ‘me time,’” she says. Need motivation to get started? These are the biggest potential benefits of walking, according to research and experts, plus how to reap them on your walks.

1. Boost your mood

Going for a walk is an easy fitness strategy that can you feel better, says Dr. Jampolis. In fact, research shows that just 10 minutes of walking can lift your spirits. The effect may be even greater if you walk through greenery, she says.

If you can make your walks social, like striding with a partner, neighbor, or friend, it can make you feel more connected and, ultimately, happier, Dr. Jampolis says.

2. Maintain a healthy weight

Regular walking can help reduce fat and support healthy weight maintenance. When walking outside, plan a route that includes hills, alternate between speed walking and a slower pace, and challenge yourself to walk the same routes on different days to see if you can beat your previous times, says Austin.

Intervals are key here, says Michele Stanten, a walking coach and author of Prevention’s Walk Your Way to Better Health. Increasing your speed for small bouts of time during, say, a 30-minute walk allows you to burn more calories than if you strolled at a moderate pace for half an hour. This approach also benefits your cardiorespiratory system. To try adding intervals, warm up for three minutes. Then spend 25 minutes alternating between one minute of walking almost as fast as you can go and one minute of brisk walking (aiming for a six on an intensity scale of one to 10). Cool down for two minutes.

3. Help heart health

One of the major ways that walking can improve your heart health is by lowering your blood pressure. One study found that, especially for older adults, every 500 additional steps taken daily was associated with 14% lower risk of heart disease, stroke, or heart failure. A 2025 scientific review published in The Lancet Public Health found that people who walked 7,000 steps a day had a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 47% lower risk of death from any cause.

4. Lower risk of chronic diseases

A 2022 study published in Nature Medicine has shown that walking can reduce your risk for a variety of chronic diseases. The study showed that walking around 7,731 steps a day effectively reduced the risk of chronic conditions, including obesity, sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), major depressive disorder (MDD), type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. The same study also found that walking even more steps continues to increase walking’s benefits for nearly every health condition studied.

5. Lower blood sugar levels

The American Diabetes Association officially recommends walking to lower blood sugar levels and lower your overall risk for type 2 diabetes. One 2022 study published in Sports Medicine showed specifically that just two minutes of walking after eating can help lower blood sugar. Even the shortest of walks can make a difference.

Still, for disease prevention, longer walks are key. Stanten recommends doing one hour-long walk at least once or twice a week.

6. Help stress

If you’re feeling frazzled or overwhelmed, walking can help lower your stress. Walking reduces the stress hormone cortisol, which helps you feel less stressed and more relaxed, says Joyce Shulman, co-founder and CEO of 99 Walks & Jetti Fitness and author of Walk Your Way to Better.

One scientific review of 75 randomized controlled trials found that walking was an effective way to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Plus, research shows that taking your stroll outside can make a huge difference, too. A 2022 study published in Molecular Psychiatry found that a 60-minute walk in nature decreases activity in brain regions involved in stress processing. In contrast, brain activity in those regions remained stable after a 60-minute walk in an urban environment.

7. Improve sleep

Working out regularly can help you sleep better at night. That’s because physical activity naturally boosts the effects of melatonin, the sleep hormone. A recent study found healthy adults who walked daily had a significant positive impact on sleep quality and length of sleep. Walking also helps reduce pain and stress, which can cause sleep disturbances.

8. Boost brainpower

The research here is quickly growing. One study showed that physical exercise, like walking, can improve brain function in older women. Experts think these benefits could be due in part to increased blood flow to the brain that occurs with exercise. A 2025 study published in the journal Age and Aging found that doing short bursts of exercise that raise your heart rate, like brisk walking, can help boost cognitive performance.

9. Alleviate joint pain

Contrary to what you might think, pounding pavement can help improve your range of motion and mobility because walking increases blood flow to tense areas and helps strengthen the muscles surrounding your joints.

Walking is also the preferred method of exercise for people with knee osteoarthritis, according to a 2025 study. Researchers found that people with knee osteoarthritis were more likely to stick with walking over other types of physical activity during the two-year study follow-up period. (Only about 2% of participants stuck with strength training, by comparison.)

10. Delay the onset of varicose veins

As you age, your risk of varicose veins increases. However, walking is a proven way to prevent them from developing, says Luis Navarro, M.D., founder and director of The Vein Treatment Center in New York City.

“The venous system includes a circulatory section known as ‘the second heart,’ which is formed by muscles, veins, and valves located in our calf and foot,” he explains. “This system works to push blood back up to the heart and lungs—and walking strengthens this secondary circulatory system by strengthening and preserving leg muscle, which boosts healthy blood flow.”

If you already suffer from varicose veins, daily walking can help ease related swelling and restlessness in your legs, says Dr. Navarro. “Also, if you are genetically predisposed to have varicose and/or spider veins, walking daily can help delay the onset.”

11. Stimulate the digestive system

If you currently count on your daily dose of coffee for keeping your digestive system going strong, get ready to start thanking your morning walk instead. That’s because a regular walking routine can greatly improve your bowel movements, says Tara Alaichamy, D.P.T., the manager of rehabilitation services at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. “One of the very first things an abdominal surgery patient is required to do is to walk because it utilizes core and abdominal muscles, encouraging movement in our GI system,” she says. In other words, when you start moving, your bowels start moving, too.

12. Kickstart your immune system

Research shows that moderate-intensity exercise—and walking in particular—ramps up our immune system. It increases the number of immune cells that attack pathogens in our body, which may lower your risk of becoming seriously ill from infectious diseases. One study even found those who walked regularly could reduce their risk of dying from pneumonia compared to those who don’t exercise regularly.

13. Protect bones

Walking can also help keep your bones strong and healthy, reducing your risk for bone loss later in life. Per Mayo Clinic, walking works directly on the bones in your legs, hips and lower spine to slow density loss. Additionally, 2022 study published in PLOS ONE found that long-term brisk walking is an efficient way to improve bone density. Specifically, taking brisk walks for 30 minutes per day three or more times per week is recommended to prevent bone loss in premenopausal women.

14. Boost longevity

That’s right, walking can seriously help you add years to your life, and it doesn’t take much to see results. One 2025 study found that daily walks of 8,000 or more steps was linked to a lower risk of dying from any cause over the 10-year study period compared to people who took walks of five minutes or less. In fact, research shows the faster you walk, the more your risk drops. The longer life benefit is believed to come from the cardiorespiratory workout that walking provides.

15. Lower Alzheimer’s risk

Alzheimer’s disease is a complicated condition, but research suggests that a walking habit could help lower your risk. The Nature Medicine study analyzed data from 296 people between the ages of 50 and 90 who participated in the Harvard Aging Brain Study. The researchers found that people with higher step counts had lower rates of cognitive decline. Those who were at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease who walked 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day saw cognitive decline that was delayed by three years. Those who logged 5,000 to 7,500 steps a day had cognitive decline delayed by seven years. They also had a slower buildup of tau tangles, a marker of Alzheimer’s disease, in the brain.

By now, you’ve probably heard the 10,000-step goal thrown around, but should that number really be your goal every day? Turns out that fewer steps may have benefits.

A 2021 study published in JAMA Network Open found that for people ages 38 to 50, 7,000 steps was associated with a lower mortality rate. And a 2025 study published in British Journal of Sports Medicine found that people who walked a minimum of 4,000 steps daily at least three days a week had a 40% lower risk of dying.

But really, any amount of walking helps, says Albert Matheny, R.D., C.S.C.S., a co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab. “Just do the best you can,” he says.

This is slightly tricky, given that you can’t pick and choose where you lose weight on your body, Matheny says. However, losing weight—specifically, body fat—in general, will likely help to reduce the fat built up around your stomach.

According to Mills, walking can reduce “visceral fat, which is around the organs deep within the abdomen, and extraneous fat,” which is excess fat that sits just beneath the skin. That said, you’re much more likely to see results if you combine walking with more high-intensity exercise.

Ultimately, you’ll need to burn more calories than you’re taking in (by following a calorie-deficient diet) to lose weight—no matter the type of exercise you choose, Matheny says.

Any movement is better than none, and a lot depends on where you started. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to do more than 30 minutes if you can, according to Mills. The more you walk, the more benefits you’ll see over time. “Low-intensity exercise like walking will see more benefits with more activity,” he explains. “But with exercise, something is always better than nothing.”

While you may think that as long as you go the distance, you’re still reaping the same benefits, several studies have shown over the years that walking faster is better for you and your long-term health.

A 2021 study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention looked at more than 200,000 cancer survivors between the ages of 50 and 71 and found that those who walked at the slowest pace had more than double the risk of death from any cause, compared with those reporting the fastest walking pace. (It’s hard to say, though, if people who had poorer health were more likely to walk slower or if the walking pace itself played a role in their health.)

How fast is fast enough? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a “brisk” walk as anything over 2.5 miles per hour. So, aiming for that or faster is ideal.

*Additional experts include: Joyce Shulman, co-founder and CEO of 99 Walks & Jetti Fitness and author of Walk Your Way to Better; Luis Navarro, M.D., founder and director of The Vein Treatment Center in New York City; Tara Alaichamy, D.P.T., the manager of rehabilitation services at Cancer Treatment Centers of America

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