--- title: These Are the Best Walking Workouts, According to Experts description: It’s clear that our bodies were made to walk, but there’s more than one way to get the most out of those daily steps. canonical: https://time.com/4761545/best-walking-workouts/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-05T16:00:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:40:53.102Z article:section: Health og:title: These Are the 3 Best Walking Workouts og:description: There's more than one way to hit that daily step target og:url: https://time.com/4761545/best-walking-workouts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfe173880c84c0e8/6988cb57cf40a89723c477bc/best-walking-workouts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: The runner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are the 3 Best Walking Workouts twitter:description: There's more than one way to hit that daily step target twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfe173880c84c0e8/6988cb57cf40a89723c477bc/best-walking-workouts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Are the 3 Best Walking Workouts > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Kristin Canning / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Kristin Canning / Health.com Contributor May 5, 2017 4:00 PM UTC  back view of man wearing sports shoes and running on Autumn leaf covered path in early morning. Rome back view of man wearing sports shoes and running on Autumn leaf covered path in early morning. Rome Getty Images by [Kristin Canning / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Kristin Canning / Health.com Contributor May 5, 2017 4:00 PM UTC It’s easy to take walking for granted as a form of exercise. After all, it’s how we move around in the world every day, so it can be hard to believe it’ll knock off pounds. But research shows that walking is a surprisingly strong health and fitness strategy. It matters how you walk, though. A study in _Journal of Applied Physiology_ found that walking quickly with hand and ankle weights was comparable to slow running. And research from the University of Virginia revealed that mixing short, fast walks with longer, more leisurely ones was an effective way for obese women to lose belly fat. Walking can even help prevent disease. A study in the journal _Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology_ showed that walking at a decent clip reduced participants’ risk of developing high blood pressure, [cholesterol](http://www.health.com/cholesterol), and blood sugar levels as much as running. It’s clear that our bodies were made to walk, but there’s more than one way to get the most out of those daily steps. We spoke to three experts with different approaches so you can choose the right method for you. Whether you’re time-pressed or want to ease into running, our experts have got you covered. **_Health.com_**_:_ [_How One Woman Shed 137 Lbs. With Strength Training and Simple Diet Changes_](http://www.health.com/weight-loss/ashley-javar-weight-loss-success-story/?xid=time) ### **The Celebrity Trainer: David Kirsch** Kirsch, who has trained the likes of [Jennifer Lopez](http://www.health.com/celebrities/get-j-lo-level-abs-with-these-4-exercises) and Kate Upton, believes even the fittest people can benefit from walking more. “From a purely physiological standpoint, walking raises your heart rate and burns calories,” he says. “But it’s also a great way to increase your mind-body connection, focus on your breath, spend time in nature, meditate, and de-stress.” **David Kirsch’s go-to walking workout:** For beginners, it’s all about working up to 10,000 steps a day, says Kirsch. That’s the preset daily goal on most fitness trackers because it’s considered a good target for heart health and weight maintenance. But after you’ve mastered that, challenge yourself to hit 15,000 to 25,000 daily steps. “Ten thousand should become the bare minimum,” he says. To amp up the intensity of your walks, try a hilly landscape or wear two- to three-pound ankle and hand weights. You can also incorporate some toning exercises every few minutes, like jumping jacks, walking lunges, squats, or squat jumps, suggests Kirsch. Adding these moves in intervals will help you build muscle, improve heart health, and increase endurance. “Walking is so good for you,” he says. “It’s a great start and supplement to any wellness program.” ### **The Weight-Management Physician: Amy Rothberg, MD** “Walking is one of the best tools for weight maintenance,” says Dr. Rothberg, director of the University of Michigan’s Weight Management Clinic. “It’s aerobic, it engages some of the biggest muscles, and it’s feasible for most people.” **Dr. Rothberg’s go-to walking workout:** To maintain a healthy weight, Dr. Rothberg recommends walking for at least 30 minutes five days a week. Some good news: You don’t have to log a half hour all at once. “You can do your 30 minutes in 10-minute bouts throughout the day,” she says, “and those add up.” Plus, when you walk for shorter periods, you can generally go at a faster speed, which may be even better for you than walking slowly for 30 minutes straight, since more vigorous activities can help increase your overall fitness level. And even lower-intensity exercises like fast-paced walking can help burn some of the body’s stored fat. Walking in chunks can give you little boosts of confidence to keep you motivated, too. “Whether it’s parking farther away or walking to meet a colleague, you get a sense of accomplishment,” she says. “It’s these little successes that end up establishing good habits.” ### **The Running Coach: Jeff Galloway** Galloway is the creator of the Run Walk Run training method, which helps walkers and longtime runners alike stay in shape and prep for races. Adding running intervals to your walks can help you burn more calories, and running has been shown to boost appetite-suppressing hormones, notes Galloway. Plus, easing into running like this allows you “to go farther while feeling better and avoiding injury,” he says. **Jeff Galloway’s go-to walking workout:** To introduce faster segments into your walks, start by jogging for 5 to 10 seconds per minute for 10 minutes, gradually working your way up to 30 minutes. Once you’ve conquered that goal, begin adding longer periods of jogging until you can jog for 30 seconds per minute for 30 minutes. Eventually, you can build up to shorter walk breaks—for example, walking for 30 seconds and running for 60\. This is an excellent way to [train for a 5K](http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20815840,00.html) or even longer race, says Galloway. (For regular runners looking to add in strategic walking breaks, Galloway suggests alternating 90 seconds of running and 30 seconds of walking if you run a 10-minute mile on average. If you average a 12-minute mile, try alternating 60 seconds of running and 30 seconds of walking.) _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/fitness/walking-workouts-fitness-experts/?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://www.health.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4761545/best-walking-workouts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4761545/best-walking-workouts/"},"headline":"These Are the 3 Best Walking Workouts","datePublished":"2017-05-05T16:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:40:53.102Z","description":"There's more than one way to hit that daily step target","url":"https://time.com/4761545/best-walking-workouts/","keywords":["Exercise & Fitness"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfe173880c84c0e8/6988cb57cf40a89723c477bc/best-walking-workouts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kristin Canning / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfe173880c84c0e8/6988cb57cf40a89723c477bc/best-walking-workouts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The runner","caption":"The runner","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/exercisefitness/","name":"Exercise & Fitness"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4761545/best-walking-workouts/","name":"These Are the 3 Best Walking Workouts"}}]}] ```