www.ramblers.org.uk

Walking for you

First steps


Photo: Richard Mann

Surely walking is too easy to have a beneficial effect on health?

No. Research shows that for adults at least 30 minutes of walking five days a week can benefit general health, even if undertaken in three ten minute bursts a day. For best results, walk fast without exerting yourself too much. You should just about be able to talk while you walk. For effective weight loss, an hour a day is recommended. Regularity is important: 30 minutes five days a week is more beneficial than 2½ hours at the weekend.

Every step counts in improving your health. Doctors currently recommend 10,000 steps a day for good health, but many of us achieve less than a third of this total.

Regular walking can improve your heart and circulation, lower blood pressure, improve flexibility and strength, boost your immune system, improve your mental health and well-being and help protect against a wide range of health problems including heart disease and diabetes.

Most people also find walking is cheaper, more attractive and much easier to fit into their lives on a regular basis than gym-based exercise or organised sport.

Don’t I need lots of expensive equipment to go walking?

No. You can walk on easy paths in urban areas, parks and lowland countryside with just ordinary warm, comfortable clothing, a pair of good comfortable shoes or trainers, plus a small backpack if you’re going off on a longer walk and want to take some food, drink and a spare top. If you start taking regular, longer walks a waterproof jacket is a good investment, and a pair of proper walking boots if you want to use rougher, more rural paths. Only for walking safely in remote and mountainous areas will you need serious specialist clothing and equipment.

I live in a town: won’t I have to drive to the countryside to walk?

No. You can reach good places to walk from your doorstep: see Ideas for easy, local walks. If you want to go further afield, many areas of beautiful countryside are easily reached by public transport, sometimes with special services aimed just at walkers.

But my local streets are full of traffic and unpleasant to walk on!

Yes, it’s true that by putting the needs of car drivers first and foremost for decades, we’ve built an environment that isn’t always very pleasant, attractive or safe to walk in – which is one of the reasons why we’re now having to work so hard to encourage people to walk more for the sake of their health! But most of us will find there are good walking opportunities close to home if we look for them. Meanwhile the Ramblers are working hard to push governments and councils to create more attractive environments for walkers, and things are slowly starting to improve.

How far and how fast should I be walking?

If you’re walking for health, it’s easiest to measure your walking by time rather than distance. Walking briskly for 30 minutes five days a week will do you some good whatever your walking speed. The benefits will increase if you can afford more time to walk, and as you get fitter you’ll find you’re walking faster with the same amount of exertion. Alternatively, you can count the number of steps you walk with a pedometer (see Now you're walking), aiming for at least 10,000 steps per day.

As with all forms of exercise, start with short, easy walks and build up as you get a feel for your own capabilities. It’s better to find a walk slightly too easy than get stiff and sore through overstretching yourself. Unless you are seriously unfit, you’ll soon find you can walk a mile (1.5km) in half an hour quite easily, and two miles (3km) in an hour.

How can I encourage children to walk more?

Rather than simply suggesting going for a walk, make it a trip to do something else the children will find interesting and that incidentally involves some walking – a visit to an event, a hill to fly a kite, a park or recreation ground, a ruin, railway, waterfall, beach, visitor attraction or a visit to a friend.

Keep the walk itself short and easy, appropriate to their age and ability, build in ‘escape routes’ if you need to cut it short, and be prepared to cancel on rainy days. Allow plenty of time for breaks, take a picnic or include a visit to a pub or café that welcomes children. Include points of interest along the way: plants and animals, geological features, buildings and ruins and so on. Canals, old railway lines, waterside walks and nature trails will have lots to look at. Take a reference book, or devise an ‘I-Spy’-style treasure hunt. Go at the child’s pace and avoid pushing them on if they get tired or bad-tempered. Or join a family walking group where they can walk with other children of their own age.

Consider letting your child walk to school: not only is this good exercise, it is also sociable and has been shown to improve academic performance. Many schools now have ‘safe routes’ and some have ‘walking buses’ where adults supervise a group of children walking to school: ask the school or Walk to School.

Start walking your way to better health now by using our Take30 10-week walking programme.

Pages in Walking for You

See also

Walking for you is a Ramblers promoting walking project. Read more about promoting walking work in Great Britain.