How Long Should I Walk A Day (And Why)?

Exact Answer: Minimum Thirty Minutes

The human body has evolved in such a way that minor ignorance of health can bring a lot of problems to the body. Some problems can be serious in the long run and can even prove to be fatal.

Maintaining good health and well-being is hence of extreme importance. There are various methods through which a person can maintain health. Some of these options do not even need any kind of monetary investment. One such option is walking.

A few minutes of walking each day can bring about many positive changes if anybody wishes to lose weight or to maintain good health in general.

How Long Should I Walk A Day?

Walking is one of the simplest forms of physical exercise that brings about great results. Walking does not only help in reducing weight but can also have numerous benefits like preventing and managing health conditions related to the heart like stroke, etc. It can bring an improvement in cardiovascular fitness too.

However, it is also necessary to know the period for which an individual should walk to gain these benefits. Continuity and consistency are the keys when it comes to walking for health benefits. To achieve good health and body, it is imminent to at least walk for about 30 minutes in a day.

What’s more important is the way they walk is being done. Slow walking for 30 minutes will hardly bring any desired effects. Hence, it is necessary to walk briskly at a fast pace for 30 minutes. A person can also increase the period of the walk depending upon the strength and stamina.

Also, since excessive walking can exhaust a person, it is necessary to keep a track of the maximum time for which a person is going for a walk. Walking for two and a half hours is a good enough timing to see great results. However, going beyond that limit in a single session can prove to be a tad bit extreme.

Why Should I Walk For That Long In A Day?

The main requisite to live a long and full life is to maintain one’s health and fitness. When a person walks at a fast pace, the heartbeat increases considerably. It leads to an increase in blood flow. Plus, it also helps in lowering down blood pressure.

The high flow of blood also leads to an increase in endorphins. It also helps in increasing the energy levels of the body as a good quantity of oxygen is delivered all through the body. All these things together lead to improved health of the heart.

Brisk walking also helps in keeping the ligaments and joints in a good shape. Since walking is considered to be a workout that is only moderately intense, it does not put excessive pressure on the joints like the ankle and knees. As walking is a moderate intensity workout, it also frees up the jammed muscles and thus improves movements.

Walking has another benefit that is it burns calories. Burning calories means weight reduction. The more a person walks the more calories they burn. The more calories that are burned, the more the weight reduces.

However, just walking alone will not have a major difference in weight. It is necessary to eat healthily and walk for at least 30 minutes each day at a brisk pace. Also, walking for 30 minutes for one day and not walking for a few days will create inconsistencies and will not have any effect on the body.

Conclusion

A beginner can try to start with a 30-minute walk once each day and then gradually increase the timing by 30 minutes twice a day. After that, the overall period of the walk can be increased over time to see consistent results.

It can be even increased to hours, but that should be broken down into sessions of a minimum of 30 minutes of non-stop walking. Then a breather can be taken for 10 minutes. This can be repeated multiple times during the overall walking period.

Walking is a simple exercise that can be done anywhere and anytime.

References

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199723050-00004
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1993.tb121740.x