Walking is the most underrated exercise there is. It’s free, you can do it anywhere, and almost nobody gets hurt doing it. If you walk every day, you’re already ahead of most people.
So is it enough? Here’s what the research says, where walking stops, and how I use both with my clients.
The Good News: You Don’t Need 10,000 Steps
The 10,000-step target was never based on science. It came from a Japanese pedometer marketing campaign in the 1960s. The actual research is more forgiving.
A large analysis in The Lancet Public Health pooled 15 studies covering more than 47,000 adults, followed for about seven years. The people who walked the most had about half the risk of dying over that time compared with the people who walked the least. But the benefit flattened out well before 10,000 steps: at around 6,000 to 8,000 a day for people over 60, and 8,000 to 10,000 for younger adults. Walking faster didn’t add much once total steps were taken into account.
Australia’s guidelines say the same thing: around 30 minutes of movement on most days, and 7,000 or more steps a day is a useful marker. So if you’re there, well done. For your heart, your blood sugar and your lifespan, walking does a lot of the heavy lifting.
Where Walking Stops
Here’s the catch. Walking is a cardio and general-health exercise. There are three things it can’t do well, and after 40 they’re the things that matter most.
Muscle. From your 40s onwards you lose muscle every decade unless you load it. Walking keeps your legs ticking over, and one small study found that brisk, hilly, interval-style walking built some thigh muscle in older people who were starting from very little. But that’s a ceiling, not a program. It does nothing for your upper body, and it won’t keep adding strength once you’re used to it.
Bone. Bone gets stronger under real load. Healthy Bones Australia’s exercise guidance is built around progressive resistance and impact work, because walking-type activity isn’t enough on its own to protect your bones.
Balance and falls. A large Cochrane review found strong evidence that balance and functional exercise prevents falls in older adults. For walking on its own, the evidence was uncertain.
That’s why the Australian guidelines don’t stop at steps. They also say to do muscle-strengthening on at least two days a week.
What I Tell My Clients
Walking on its own is not enough. It’s the absolute bare minimum. It only mildly improves your cardio, and it doesn’t improve your strength at all. As you get older, what happens when you have to do something functional: lift a suitcase into the car, get up off the floor, carry a grandchild? Walking won’t have prepared you for that.
I’ve worked in gyms for many years, and I’ve watched the same thing over and over. The cardio-only crowd walk up the stairs, jump on the cross trainer and spend 40 minutes doing cardio. Their body shape stays the same. If anything, they look looser. But the moment you incorporate strength training, the whole body composition changes.
So with my clients, the strength training is the foundation: two sessions a week with me. The daily walk sits on top of that, and it’s an absolute bonus.
Walk Every Day, Lift Twice a Week
Walking isn’t the problem. Walking instead of strength training is. Keep your daily walk, and add two sessions a week where you lift something heavy enough to matter. That combination covers your heart, your muscle, your bones and your balance.
If you’re not sure where to start with the lifting part, my post on gym confidence for beginners will help. If you’re over 50, functional strength after 50 covers the balance side. And if you’d like someone to build the strength half around your walking, connect with me today.
Related reading: fitness trackers and smartwatches and quitting smoking or vaping and your training.