Walking is one of the most accessible ways to care for your health. You don’t need special gear, a gym membership, or a carefully planned routine — simply do it on your way to the store, around your neighborhood, or during a short break in your day. With every step, you’re engaging your body in a movement that has supported human health for generations.
Much of the conversation around walking has centered on how many minutes you log or whether you hit familiar targets like 10,000 steps a day. These measures are useful for keeping track, yet they overlook an equally important aspect of walking that influences how much you actually gain from it — the speed of your stride.
That simple but often ignored factor was the subject of a study recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Nearly 80,000 adults from different backgrounds were followed for close to two decades, as researchers looked beyond step counts to ask a deeper question — could the pace of your walk reveal more about its impact on your health and longevity than time alone?
Study Shows Pace Changes The Payoff Of Walking
To explore whether speed matters as much as time on your feet, researchers asked participants to report how long they walked each day and whether it was at a slow or brisk pace. This simple distinction allowed them to capture everyday walking habits in a way that reflected real life, rather than a laboratory setting. Over years of follow-up, they compared walking patterns with health outcomes to see which approach offered greater protection.1
Researchers tracked deaths over nearly two decades and compared them with participants’ reported walking patterns. This extended follow-up made it possible to see how daily pace translated into survival, while also accounting for other lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking, and different forms of exercise.
Participants who reported including brisk, deliberate walking in their daily routine showed a clear survival advantage compared to those who walked only at slower paces. What stood out most was that the benefit did not require an extreme level of effort. According to the authors, “Fast walking as little as 15 minutes a day was associated with a nearly 20% reduction in total mortality.”2
Cardiovascular Disease Is Most Affected
The protective effect of brisk walking was strongest against deaths caused by cardiovascular conditions, particularly ischemic heart disease and heart failure. These diseases remain the leading causes of death worldwide, and the study showed that even a modest daily practice of brisk walking provided meaningful protection against them.
Participants who reported more than three hours of slow walking per day had only a small, statistically borderline reduction in overall mortality, and the results were not as consistent as those for brisk walking. However, in a secondary analysis, longer durations of slow walking were associated with reduced risk of ischemic heart disease, echoing prior studies that suggest light-intensity walking still supports cardiometabolic health.
A faster pace was described in the study as a form of aerobic exercise that improves cardiac output, increases oxygen delivery to muscles, and makes the heart pump more efficiently. These changes strengthen cardiovascular health, help regulate weight and blood pressure, and reduce the risks tied to obesity and poor metabolic function.
Brisk walking reduced mortality risk regardless of how much other leisure-time physical activity participants engaged in, including activities such as bowling, dancing, golfing, softball, jogging, aerobics, bicycling, tennis, swimming, weightlifting, or basketball. This means walking briskly adds another layer of protection for those who already lead active lives.
The improvements from brisk walking were particularly pronounced in participants who entered the study with chronic health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity. For these individuals, walking faster helped restore lost ground, improving circulation, metabolism, and cardiac function in ways that offered outsized benefits compared to healthier participants.
But how fast exactly is brisk walking? In the study, brisk walking was defined by the participants’ own sense of moving at a faster, deliberate pace — enough that your heart works harder and your breathing deepens compared to casual strolling. Public health guidelines describe this as the level of effort where you’re able to talk but not sing comfortably, which typically falls in the range of 2.5 to 3 miles per hour.3,4
7 Additional Strategies To Maximize The Benefits Of Walking
Aside from picking up your pace, there are other ways to make walking an even more powerful practice. How you vary your routine, the environment you choose, and the way you use your walking time all add meaningful benefits. Here are strategies I recommend to make each step work harder for your health.
1.INCORPORATE INTERVAL WALKING. Research shows that alternating slower and faster paces, a method known as interval walking training (IWT), improves fitness more than keeping the same speed. The routine typically involves three minutes of relaxed walking followed by three minutes of brisk walking, repeated for about 30 minutes.
When practiced regularly, IWT lowers blood pressure, eases symptoms of depression, strengthens the hamstrings, improves aerobic endurance, and even reduces stroke risk.5
2.USE A WEIGHTED VEST OR BACKPACK FOR ADDED RESISTANCE. Walking with extra weight engages more muscles, increases oxygen use, and raises the intensity of the workout. Research shows that women aged 65 to 74 who wore weighted vests improved leg power by 10% to 11%, and younger adults also experienced greater training effects without changes to their natural stride.6
To do this safely, begin with a light load, make sure the weight is distributed evenly, and add more gradually as your body becomes stronger. Learn more about this approach in “Pros and Cons of Wearing a Weighted Vest During Walks.”
3.TRY NORDIC WALKING TO INVOLVE YOUR UPPER BODY. Nordic walking is done with fixed-length poles similar to ski poles, which you plant into the ground as you walk. This technique turns walking into a full-body activity by engaging your arms, shoulders, and core along with your legs.
Because it uses about 90% of your muscles, it raises oxygen use by 18% to 25% compared to regular walking at the same pace. The added involvement of the upper body improves posture, balance, and calorie burn, giving you more benefit from the same distance without making the effort feel dramatically harder.7
4.WALK OUTDOORS FOR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL RENEWAL. Walking outdoors offers benefits that go well beyond what you get on a treadmill. Natural settings help ease tension, anxiety, and fatigue while lifting your mood, and the added sunlight supports vitamin D production and healthy circadian rhythms.8
You’ll get the greatest effect if you spend at least part of your walk outside during midday, when sunlight exposure is strongest. Just remember to follow safe sun exposure guidelines, especially if your diet has been high in vegetable oils.
5.USE WALKING TIME FOR CREATIVITY AND REFLECTION. A 2023 study found that even short bouts of walking boosted creative performance on problem-solving tasks.9Use your walks as a chance to brainstorm, reflect, or listen to educational audio, making the time productive for both your body and your mind.
6.BRING A SOCIAL ELEMENT TO YOUR WALKS. Walking with a friend, family member, or pet makes the habit easier to maintain and more enjoyable. Social interaction during physical activity has been described as a “longevity goldmine” because it combines movement with connection, both of which are linked to longer life and better well-being. Regular companionship during walks also provides accountability, helping you stay consistent over time.
7.TRACK YOUR STEPS AND PROGRESS. Monitoring your daily walking helps you stay consistent and motivated. It also makes it easier to set personal goals and celebrate steady progress.
Walking becomes far more than a routine when you treat it as a practice to refine. Each adjustment builds on the foundation of this simple movement and turns it into a lasting support for your health.
Sources and References
1, 2 American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 69, Issue 4, 107738
3 American Heart Association, American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity in Adults and Kids
4 NHS, Walking for Health
5 YouTube, NHK World-Japan, New Findings on Walking and Running – Medical Frontiers
6 J Clin Med. 2019 Jan 4;8(1):41
15 Front Physiol. 2021; 12: 726783
16 Environmental Research Volume 214, Part 4, November 2022, 114081
17 Am Psychol. 2024 Sep;79(6):863-875
This article was brought to you by Dr. Mercola, a New York Times bestselling author. For more helpful articles, please visit Mercola.com.
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