Is walking enough exercise? What walking does brilliantly... And what it doesn't
Does walking build muscle? Tone your legs? Count as real exercise at all? I get asked these questions by clients all the time. The answer depends on how you do it.
Whatever your goals, I recommend walking to absolutely everyone because it’s brilliant for your fitness and can help reduce your risk of chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease and dementia. It’s simple, free and easy to slot into your everyday routine.
Plus, it’s a great place to start if you’ve never exercised before or you’re returning after a break. As a WalkActive coach, I love seeing clients notice the difference in their fitness.
But is walking enough exercise? In this blog, we’ll cover what walking improves…and what it doesn’t.
Is walking good exercise? Absolutely – Here's why
The best exercise is one you can stick to. Walking is easy to fit into your everyday life, whether that’s part of your commute or meeting up with a friend in the park.
As my WalkActive clients know, if you pick up the pace, you can push into zone 2 cardio. Your heart pumps faster, helping you build fitness and endurance. And as a bonus, being in zone 2 also helps you maintain a healthy weight. I’ve had clients who are new to exercise shed pounds through walking.
Of course, the mental health benefits are immense. Walking boosts mood and helps you sleep. Cardio also comes with a raft of other health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart attacks and stroke.
Does walking count as exercise?
It totally depends on how you walk! If you’re casually strolling – probably not. I’ve said for years that people don’t bloody walk - they dawdle.
If you want to experience all those health benefits, you need to walk briskly. If you're chatting to someone and they can tell you're on the move, you're working at about the right intensity. You’re aiming for aerobic training with sustainable effort.
Now, you might assume you’re walking effectively, but so many people aren’t! As a personal trainer, I teach my clients how to walk more efficiently with WalkActive techniques. The secret is using your feet fully (you wouldn’t believe how many people don’t). Focus on lifting from the hips, swinging from the arms and leaving your back leg behind you as long as possible (think about it!) After walking a marathon myself, I can tell you, tweaking my technique made a real difference.
But you don’t need to walk a marathon to reap the benefits. The latest research says 7000 steps a day is a solid aim. Treat it as a rule of thumb – that might look different for someone in their 20s who practically lives in the gym and someone returning to exercise in their 80s.
Looking to up the ante? Once you've nailed the techniques, you can use the WalkActive accelerators to increase your pace and intensity without simply walking faster
What walking improves... and what it doesn't.
Walking deserves a big place in your weekly routine. It supports your heart, fitness, endurance, metabolic health, mental wellbeing and so much more.
But there is a catch. While walking has many great benefits for fitness and overall health, it’s not enough exercise on its own. There is limited evidence around its benefits for bone density.
Unlike resistance training, walking just doesn’t provide the same progressive load on your muscles offered by resistance training - you need a combo! That’s why the NHS recommends both cardio and resistance or strength training. Anything where your muscles are working against resistance counts – whether that’s your bodyweight, free weights, or exercise machines.
Yet so many clients try to skip the resistance training. But it’s essential for muscle and bone strength, which helps you stay strong and independent for longer.
Does walking build muscle?
So walking builds muscle – up to a point. It can help strengthen the muscles in your legs particularly if you're new to exercise. As my WalkActive clients know, it primarily builds leg and core muscle.
But there is a limit here – you’ll always need to amp up the challenge to continue to build muscle. Over time, it will plateau. That’s because you reach a certain point with walking where it’s hard to ramp up. Just walking more steps isn’t going to cut it. It’s much easier to progressively load with resistance training so you can keep building strength.
If your primary goal is building muscle, walking alone isn’t going to cut it. My clients notice the biggest transformations in body composition after adding strength training to their routine.
Plus, if you're walking longer distances, hiking, or tackling hills regularly, strengthening your legs and hips away from your walks will help you feel more capable when you're out there.
Does walking tone your legs?
When clients tell me they want toned legs, what they really mean is a combo of building muscle and reducing body fat. Clients who have just started exercising or are returning after a break often notice a difference in muscle tone from walking alone.
But, it’s only up to a point. If toning up is your goal, definitely incorporate walking into your daily routine, but don’t neglect resistance training. Aim for two to three sessions a week for best results. Swimming and indoor rowing would be my other tips for toning your legs, as they both add in extra resistance.
Walking vs strength training: Why you need both
Clients tend to see themselves as a cardio person or a strength training person. But walking and strength training offer different health benefits. Walking boosts your cardio fitness and endurance, while resistance training challenges your body to build muscle and maintain strength.
Here’s the lowdown on walking vs strength training so you can see how they stack up. And remember, don’t just pick a favourite – you need both.
Muscle - Walking is great for endurance, but strength training is best for explosive power and speed. That’s why resistance training boosts your functional strength, helping you do activities like climbing the stairs.
Fitness - If fitness is your goal, cardio is your friend. It gets your heart pumping and lowers your resting heart rate. Resistance training can challenge your cardio system too, just not in the same sustained way.
Sleep - Good news – both walking and strength training help you get more zzzs, though one study suggests resistance training inches ahead here.
Stress and mental wellbeing - Personally, I love walking with my dogs because you get the added lift of a change of scene. Studies show that cardio is good for reducing stress while strength training improves your self-belief.
Ageing - In blue zones where people live longer, one study found that walking every day is a key factor. Yet strength training is essential for reversing muscle loss and the negative effects of ageing, according to research.
Memory and thinking - Turns out there’s a reason why you get loads of new ideas after a walk. Research shows it increases blood flow to the brain, improving thinking. Meanwhile, strength training can boost your memory.
The bottom line
Of course, it’s not really a case of walking vs strength training – you need both. The best approach is a combo of walking and strength training complementing each other. For example, one of my WalkActive clients, B said that ‘I could definitely feel a difference in the muscles I was using…it was pretty remarkable.’
I recommend walking daily and aiming for two strength training sessions a week as a minimum. After your strength session, try going for a walk afterwards to prevent muscle soreness – you’ll thank yourself the next day.
Research consistently links both aerobic and muscle strengthening with a lower risk of premature death. A 2021 review shows that 1-2 strength training activities a week reduce all-cause mortality by 20-25%. It goes to show you need both walking and strength training to live a long, independent and healthy life.
Ready to maximise the benefits of walking?
If you’re looking to step up your walking and nail your technique, I can help you learn WalkActive techniques so you activate your muscles, pick up the pace and make the most of your steps.
