How to Maximize the Health Benefits of Walking

Walking has many demonstrated health benefits: improving heart health, lowering blood sugar, burning calories for weight loss, and improving muscle tone. But most of the research on walking has focused on how long people walk, not how quickly. Recent studies have hinted that altering your walking pace—which has become popular as Japanese walking (also known as interval walking)—might have additional benefits. In a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers led by Dr. Wei Zheng, professor and director of the Vanderbilt University Epidemiology Center, studied whether walking pace made a difference in people’s health. They studied 86,000 people who reported how much they walked each day, as well as other health-related activities such as their diet and whether they smoked or drank alcohol. Over 17 years, the researchers tracked their death rates and correlated mortality to their walking pattern. They found that people who walked at a faster pace for at least 15 minutes a day had a lower risk of dying during the study period than those who walked more slowly. Both groups lowered their risk of death during that time, but the reduction was more impressive among those who regularly walked at a brisker pace. Read More: Why Walking Isn’t Enough When It Comes to Exercise While those findings may not be entirely surprising, Zheng says the trial focused on a group of people who aren’t typically part of exercise studies. About half of the people in the trial made less than $15,000 a year, and two-thirds of the participants were Black. Studies have documented that these groups “are at high risk of many diseases including diabetes and hypertension,” says Zheng—so the lower mortality rate is especially reassuring, since it represents a relatively low impact and low cost way to improve health. Current government health recommendations advise moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes most days of the week, and Zheng says that his study shows that even 15 minutes a day can provide benefits. That’s good news for people who may currently be sedentary and for whom starting an exercise program can be challenging. “If you walk just 15 minutes a day, which is below the recommended level [of exercise], you still benefit,” he says. And while the results showed that people who walked the fastest had the greatest reduction in mortality, Zheng says it’s important to remember that even people walking at a slower pace showed some benefit. That suggests that if people continue walking, even at a slower pace, and add a few minutes of faster paced walking into their regimen, they could increase their health benefits. Such interval training has long been popular in exercise regimens, but the latest data suggest it applies to walking as well.