Moving your body regularly, starting with walking, is a great way to up your cardiorespiratory fitness and enjoy a longer life. Plus, adding more steps into your daily routine offers a vast number of health benefits including lowering body fat, easing depression and improving heart health.
Here, we highlighted 40 simple ways to walk more. Check off as many as you can in a month and add it all up — remember, practice makes perfect, so feel free to re-take the quiz as many times as you like!
Doing something is definitely better than nothing. Think of it this way: 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there — it all adds up. If a 150-pound person burns 34 calories every 10 minutes doing a leisurely walk, that’s an extra 238 calories each week if they were to do it daily. If you did it every day for a year, that’s more than 12,000 calories annually. Try to set small, specific goals for yourself and choose a reward (like a new pair of sneakers) for each milestone you hit.
There’s no doubt you’ve got enough steps under your belt to increase productivity at the office and are ready to take on even more new challenges. If you’re looking for more motivation or accountability, try walking with a friend; research shows you’re more likely to stick with it.
Congrats, the amount of walking you’re doing is making a significant impact on overall health. People who accumulate 15,000 steps per day have healthier BMIs, smaller waists, lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol than those that don’t, according to University of Warwick research. If you’re not doing so already, try to challenge yourself even more by going for a walk on different terrain or adding high-intensity intervals.
You are consistently taking advantage of walking’s health and mental benefits, so keep it up! If you’re looking for an extra challenge from here, try signing up for a walking-friendly event like a 10K or even a marathon. Or set new goals for yourself like using more challenging weights when walking, adding in bodyweight movements like lunges and squats or play with incline.
BONUS
Knowledge is power — and we’ve got plenty of tips to help you get the most out of walking. For each story you read, give yourself another point.
THE BEST TIMES TO WALK, ACCORDING TO YOUR GOALS
HEALTHY HABITS FOR LIFE: 10 TIPS FOR BETTER WALKING
7 PERSONALIZED WALKING PLANS TO HELP YOU REACH YOUR GOALS
WHY WALKING IS GREAT AND STANDING DESKS ARE OVERRATED
9 WAYS TO UP YOUR STEP COUNT AT THE OFFICE
