Walking is something you do to get from point A to point B. For most people, it’s a necessary part of everyday life, and beyond that, hitting a daily step count might offer a medley of health benefits.
But is walking exercise, and if so, does walking count as cardio? The short answers are yes and yes—but you can step it up a notch with a structured walking workout.
Whether you’re a beginner looking to get more physical activity, are exploring low-impact exercises for joint health, or just want to stay active, you’re in the right place. Learn all about walking workouts, including how to incorporate one into your fitness routine, whether they’re enough on their own, and the benefits of regular walking.
Is Walking Exercise?
Yes, walking is exercise. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says walking counts as a form of physical activity. If you walk long enough, far enough, or at a speed or incline that increases your heart rate, it’s considered aerobic activity (aka cardio). In fact, there’s even an official sport called race-walking that challenges people to walk—but, crucially, not run—as fast as they can.
Even though it doesn’t call for any specific skills or equipment, walking is a great way to get regular physical activity. When walking for exercise, you can walk outdoors, go on a hike, or use a treadmill at the gym.
Walking generally isn’t a high-intensity activity compared to other forms of exercise, like running, cycling, or HIIT (high-intensity interval training). But it can still offer significant health benefits, no matter your age or fitness level.
Walking can serve as a standalone low-intensity workout or complement strength training, running, or group fitness classes.
What Is a Walking Workout?
A walking workout is a structured walk that elevates the physical activity benefits of a regular walk. With this low-impact, moderate-intensity exercise, you’re typically walking at a speed of 2.5 to 4 miles per hour (sometimes slightly faster) or alternating speeds. It might also incorporate walking at an incline, engaging your arms with wrist weights, or wearing a weighted vest.
Walking workouts are more intentional than casual strolling. As with other types of workouts, the idea is to get your heart rate up and engage different muscle groups to support cardiovascular health, endurance, and get more daily movement.
Benefits of Walking Workouts
A walking workout can benefit your health, especially if you approach it with intention and structure it in a way that challenges your muscles and cardiorespiratory system.
1. Supports Cardiovascular Health
Walking has been shown to improve heart health and possibly help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic conditions. Walking for a half-hour five days a week may also help lower your resting heart rate and improve blood pressure levels.
According to the CDC, exercising for 150 minutes or more each week can have these positive health effects—and walking counts.
2. Easy on the Joints
Compared to running, cycling, jumping exercises, and other high-intensity workouts, running is easy on the joints. It has less of an impact on the knees and hips, making it a great option for aging adults, those recovering from an injury, or people with mobility issues.
3. Good for Building Consistent Habits
Walking is a fairly easy and uncomplicated form of exercise. Most people can do it without special training, athletic ability, or equipment. Some may wear workout apparel for a walking workout, especially on a treadmill, but in general, you don’t necessarily need to change your clothes before going on a walk. This makes walking a good option for those who want to build consistent habits.
4. Increases Daily Calorie Burn and Supports Weight Loss
Walking uses energy, meaning it burns extra calories. And you can elevate the cardio load even more by creating a walking workout that kicks up your heart rate and challenges your cardiorespiratory system.
Regular walking, particularly brisk walking at a moderate pace, can support weight loss. Of course, it’s not a one-and-done solution. Other lifestyle habits, like healthy eating, hydration, strength training, and good sleep, are all part of the equation.,
5. Accessible for All Ages and Fitness Levels
Good for all ages and life stages, walking is an accessible form of physical activity. With consistency, it can be very effective at delivering a medley of health benefits. Compared to other types of exercise like running, a walking workout has a low risk of injury.
Is Walking a Good Workout for Weight Loss?
Walking can be a good workout for weight loss, particularly brisk walking. Doing regular walking workouts or consistently reaching a higher daily step count for several weeks or months can help some people reach a lower BMI (body mass index) and reduce their body fat.
But again, it’s best to take a holistic approach to weight loss. This means paying attention to other lifestyle changes, like swapping unhealthy foods for more nutritious ones, focusing on adequate sleep, and doing strength training at least a couple days a week.,
How to Structure a Walking Workout
Let’s look at the key components of how to structure a walking workout:
- Duration – An average of at least 30 minutes of exercise a day is ideal, so aim for a half-hour or more. If you’re just starting out, begin with 10 or 15 minutes and work your way up.
- Incline – Whether outdoors on a hill or at the gym on a treadmill, an incline can boost the intensity of your workout. You can start on an uphill incline and finish downhill (as with a hike) or vary the incline throughout a treadmill walking workout.
- Speed and intervals – Walking workouts usually vary from 2.5 to 4 miles per hour. You might start out at a slower speed, then bump it up to a moderate pace, do a minute or so at a top speed, then repeat the circuit a few times.
- Terrain – Different terrains can be more or less challenging. For instance, uneven ground will require more focus and balance than a flat sidewalk or treadmill. Keep this in mind when figuring out the duration, speed, and incline of your workout.
What Is the 5-2-4 Walking Workout?
The 5-2-4 walking workout is a 28-minute routine that focuses on intervals. It starts with five minutes of fast walking, followed by two minutes of slower walking to recover, and repeats this four times.
What Is the 12-3-30 Walking Method?
The 12-3-30 walking method is a low-impact walking workout you can do on a treadmill. Set the incline to 12% and the speed to 3 miles per hour, then walk for 30 minutes. It’s challenging but pretty straightforward, which can help with motivation in the gym.
How Long Should a Walking Workout Be?
A walking workout should generally be at least 30 minutes to reap the health benefits and see results over time. You don’t have to do it every day, but five days a week can make a big difference. Beginners can start with 10 or 15 minutes of walking and add minutes over time until they reach the half-hour mark.
Supplementing Walking Workouts to Optimize Fitness
Walking workouts can be effective when they’re intentional and challenge your body with progression—adding more minutes, increasing the incline, or including bouts of fast walking.
That said, if you really want to optimize your fitness game, you might see even better results with strength training and mobility work. Mixing it up with multiple forms of exercise is considered one of the best approaches to fitness. Add in two or more resistance, stretching, yoga, or group fitness sessions a week, and you’re golden.
What Is the 30-30-30 Rule for Walking?
The 30-30-30 rule is a trending recommendation that’s been popping up on TikTok and other social media sites. It calls for eating 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning and then doing 30 minutes of low-intensity physical activity, like walking.
Everything You Need for Your Walking Workout at Chuze Fitness
Chuze Fitness has all the tools and resources you need to start your fitness journey. If you’re interested in walking workouts, an affordable gym membership gives you treadmill access year-round, rain or shine.
We also have other supportive amenities and perks to round out your exercise routine, keep up with consistent habits, and stay motivated. This includes the Chuze Lift Lab, group fitness classes, and a Recovery Studio for relaxation and rejuvenation at select locations.
Start with a seven-day gym trial to see what we’re all about and find out how Chuze Fitness supports a balanced routine.
Sources:
Lucretia C, et al. Walking – a Form of Exercise. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367113970_Walking_-_a_Form_of_Exercise
GeroScience. The multifaceted benefits of walking for healthy aging: from Blue Zones to molecular mechanisms. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10643563/
International Journal of Exercise Science. An Exploratory Study Comparing the Metabolic Responses between the 12-3-30 Treadmill Workout and Self-Paced Treadmill Running. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11798546/
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Exercise variety—not just amount—linked to lower risk of premature mortality. https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/exercise-variety-not-just-amount-linked-to-lower-risk-of-premature-mortality/
International Journal of Health Sciences. Effect of walking exercise on the human body. https://sciencescholar.us/journal/index.php/ijhs/article/view/6977
Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness. Effects of a 12-week walking intervention on circulating lipid profiles and adipokines in normal weight and abdominal obese female college students. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1728869X23000266
Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science. Effects of Walking Exercise Program Based on Duration on the Body Composition and Lipid Profile in Overweight and Obesity Female College Students. https://www.foodandnutritionjournal.org/volume10number3/effects-of-walking-exercise-program-based-on-duration-on-the-body-composition-and-lipid-profile-in-overweight-and-obesity-female-college-students/
Forest Science and Technology. Effects of walking exercise on cognitive and physical functions: meta-analysis of older adults. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21580103.2024.2343354
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Benefits of Physical Activity. https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/benefits/index.html
Journal of Women’s Health. Effectiveness of Long and Short Bout Walking on Increasing Physical Activity in Women. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3064872/
Current Opinion in Cardiology. Walking – the first steps in cardiovascular disease prevention. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3098122/
Integrative and Complementary Therapies. Walking for Health—Increased Longevity Among New Research Findings. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/27683192251367986
Scientific Reports. Moderate intensity walking exercises reduce the body mass index and vascular inflammatory factors in postmenopausal women with obesity: a randomized controlled trial. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-47403-2
Frontiers of Human Neuroscience. Effects of different exercise intensities of race-walking on brain functional connectivity as assessed by functional near-infrared spectroscopy. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9614086/
Mayo Clinic. Weight loss: 6 strategies for success. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss/art-20047752
Nutrients. The Effect of Lifestyle and Eating Habits on Obesity. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/6/993
Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. Physical activity-related injuries in walkers and runners in the aerobics center longitudinal study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11086751/
Mayo Clinic. How much should the average adult exercise every day?. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/exercise/faq-20057916
UCLA Health. What is the 30-30-30 rule?. https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/what-30-30-30-rule
