Two recent studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) also show that walking between 2,000 and 10,000 steps every day lowers the risk of heart disease, cancer, and an early death by at least 10%.
In addition to getting your heart rate up and helping your heart, walking has been shown to speed up your metabolism, lower your cholesterol, lower your risk of having a stroke, strengthen your bones, and give you more energy.
Walking can help with knee and hip arthritis pain because it strengthens the muscles in your lower body
Walking won't give you as much aerobic exercise as running, but it has been shown to raise your heart rate enough to count as meaningful exercise.
CDC says that people should do 150 minutes a week of "moderate-intensity aerobic activity" like brisk walking. This is the same as 30 minutes a day during the week.
There's also good news for people who walk and want to lose weight. Fredericson says, "Because walking raises your heart rate and works multiple muscle groups at once, you will definitely burn calories and lose weight if you do it often."
"And don't forget that you're still burning calories even if you don't work up a sweat," he adds.
Gontang says that a fast walk can burn up to 300 calories per hour. The number of calories burned will depend on things like the terrain, distance, and speed.