What Walking Can Do for Your Weight, Blood Pressure, and Cholesterol

Put on your walking shoes and reap the health benefits of a good walk. You can burn calories, improve your blood pressure, and see better cholesterol numbers.

1. Burns Calories to Help Lose Weight

A daily brisk walk can help you reach your weight loss goals:

• To prevent weight gain and reduce health risks: Walk at a pace that makes you breathe more heavily than normal for 30 minutes or longer, five or more days per week. This will achieve the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity needed to help prevent weight gain and reduce health risks.
• To support weight loss: Build up your session time and walking speed. You will burn more calories walking with longer duration, faster speed, bursts of very fast walking or running, and adding hills or treadmill incline.
• Burn more calories than you eat: To lose weight, you will also need to ensure you eat fewer calories than you burn each day.

2. Lowers Your Blood Pressure

Walking can help you reduce high blood pressure:

• Walking strengthens the heart and reduces pressure on artery walls.
• Walking promotes weight management, which reduces the strain on the heart.
• Walking decreases stress by releasing endorphins (chemical messengers that can help improve mood).
• To reduce high blood pressure, walk at a pace that has you breathing harder than normal (moderate intensity) three to five times a week for 20 to 40 minutes.

3. Improves Your Cholesterol Levels

Regular brisk walking can improve cholesterol levels:

• Increases “good” cholesterol: Brisk walking raises beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and breaks down triglycerides (fatty acids that contribute to clogged arteries).
• May reduce “bad” cholesterol: Physical activity may reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol that raises heart health risks. More intense physical activity has greater effect on reducing LDL.
• To get the benefits: Walk at a brisk pace where you are breathing harder than normal. Aim for 150 total minutes per week or more, spread out through the week.