Fitness
What Happens to Your Body When You Walk Every Day
Establishing a regular walking habit is good for the mind, body, and soul. Lacing up your sneakers and hitting your favorite trails or walking route is a great way to add extra steps to your day and stay social, whether you do “walk and talks” on the phone with loved ones or have a walking buddy. Plus, if you have access to a treadmill, it’s a healthy habit you can maintain no matter the time of year or what the weather’s doing outside. The benefits of walking are numerous, so listen up; we spoke with personal trainers who break down exactly what happens to your body when you walk every day.
Engaging in this low-impact, low-intensity form of cardio is something you can easily work into your daily routine. “It doesn’t produce a large stress response in the body like higher-intensity exercise options, such as HIIT or running, can, especially in those who are new to fitness,” explains Amanda Capritto, a certified personal trainer, sports nutrition coach, and functional training specialist. “Additionally, walking is a low-cost activity: You only need comfortable clothing and adequate walking shoes. It’s very accessible as far as exercise goes, and if you live somewhere with safe walking routes, you don’t need to invest in any equipment or purchase a gym membership.”
Walking also isn’t super fatiguing, so you can boost the total amount of weekly exercise you complete in a way that works with other forms of exercise, like high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Now, let’s get into exactly what happens to your body when you walk every day.
You’ll torch more calories.
Research shows that walking can torch even more calories than jogging. Science also says that making small tweaks to your daily routine, like walking to your errands or work, can aid in your weight-loss efforts.
“Walking burns calories,” explains Domenic Angelino, CPT and author from the International Personal Trainer Academy (NPTA). “If all other areas of your exercise routine and lifestyle are the same, and you add walking into your routine, you will burn more calories overall than you otherwise would have.”
You’ll reduce body fat.
Seeing as walking is an excellent calorie burner, it’s also efficient at reducing body fat.
“[Walking will] have a direct effect on the fat in your body,” Angelino says. “The exact effect depends on how many calories you are eating each week and how many calories you are burning overall. It may either reduce how quickly you are gaining fat or increase how quickly you are losing fat. Both of these can help improve your health and have a meaningful impact on your body.”
You’ll boost the endurance of your calves.
Walking puts a variety of muscles to work, including the calves.
“The calves are the ones most involved in supporting this process,” Angelino tells us. “Walking very frequently can help increase the endurance of your calves, especially if you normally don’t move around much in your day anyway.”
You may experience lower blood pressure.
Walking daily can boost cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure. Research shows that hypertension contributes to heart disease, and your level of physical activity majorly impacts this. Adding walking to your routine can seamlessly help you take the right steps toward lowering blood pressure.
“Lower blood pressure is helpful because it means that you are at lower risk of dangerous heart issues, like experiencing a heart attack,” explains Angelino. “You can amplify the effectiveness of walking on lowering your blood pressure by intentionally walking at a faster pace.”
You’ll improve bone density.
When you think of improving bone density, your mind likely turns to resistance training. However, walking can help, too!
“[Walking is] still a form of weight-bearing exercise (moving your own bodyweight), so it does positively impact bone health,” Capritto says.
And research backs this up. According to a study published in The American Journal of Medicine, healthy postmenopausal women who walked around 1 mile daily experienced a greater whole-body bone density compared to women who completed shorter distances. The research determined that walking is extremely productive in decreasing the rate of bone loss in the legs and helping individuals preserve skeletal integrity.
You’ll improve the endurance of your postural muscles.
If you don’t get enough movement during your workday, walking regularly may improve the endurance of your postural muscles.
“When you stand upright and when you walk, you will subconsciously use muscles in your body to support your posture,” Angelino explains. “It’s how humans are able to keep their torsos upright and limbs in certain positions as they go about their days. The stress walking places on postural muscles isn’t particularly high, but it is much higher than sitting would be.”
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Alexa Mellardo
Fitness
Scientists Say Most Adults Need 4 Times More Exercise Than Recommended for Major Heart Benefits
Substantial heart health benefits may require 560-610 minutes of weekly exercise, with lower fitness individuals needing even more activity to achieve similar protection.
Adults may need far more exercise than current public health guidelines recommend to significantly lower their risk of heart attack and stroke, according to an observational study published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Researchers found that adults needed between 560 and 610 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week for a substantial reduction in cardiovascular risk. That is roughly 3 to 4 times higher than the current recommendation of at least 150 minutes weekly of activities such as brisk walking, running, or cycling.
The findings also suggest that people with lower fitness levels need slightly more exercise than highly fit individuals to achieve the same cardiovascular benefits.
Researchers said current exercise recommendations may need to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach and instead provide personalized goals based on a person’s fitness level.
VO2 Max and Cardiovascular Fitness Explained
Cardiorespiratory fitness differs widely between individuals and is considered a strong indicator of heart health. Researchers noted that low cardiorespiratory fitness is closely linked to a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, and early death.
One common way to measure fitness is through VO2 max, which reflects the maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during intense exercise. The measurement shows how efficiently the heart, lungs, and muscles work together to deliver and use oxygen.
Researchers from Macao Polytechnic University in China investigated how physical activity levels and cardiorespiratory fitness, measured through VO2 max, influenced cardiovascular disease risk.
UK Biobank Study Tracks Exercise and Heart Events
The study analyzed data from 17,088 participants in the UK Biobank study collected between 2013 and 2015. Participants had an average age of 57, while 56% were women and 96% were white.
Participants wore wrist devices for seven consecutive days to track their normal exercise levels. They also completed a cycling test to estimate VO2 max.
The researchers included additional information such as smoking habits, alcohol use, self reported health and diet, body mass index, resting heart rate, and blood pressure.
Over an average follow-up period of 7.8 years, researchers recorded 1,233 cardiovascular events. These included 874 cases of atrial fibrillation, 156 heart attacks, 111 cases of heart failure, and 92 strokes.
560–610 Minutes Weekly Linked to Stronger Risk Reduction
Adults who met the current guideline of 150 minutes of exercise per week saw a modest 8% to 9% reduction in cardiovascular risk, regardless of fitness level.
However, achieving a more substantial reduction of greater than 30% required between 560 and 610 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise weekly. Only 12% of participants reached that level of activity.
Lower Fitness Levels Require More Physical Activity
The analysis showed that participants with the lowest fitness levels needed about 30 to 50 additional minutes of exercise each week compared with highly fit individuals to gain similar benefits.
For example, a person with low fitness needed about 370 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week to reduce cardiovascular risk by 20%, compared with 340 minutes for someone with high fitness.
The researchers say, “This finding highlights the steeper challenge faced by deconditioned populations.”
Researchers Call for Personalized Exercise Guidelines
Because the study was observational, the researchers said it cannot prove cause and effect. They also acknowledged that participants may have been healthier and fitter than the general population. Additional limitations included estimating cardiorespiratory fitness rather than directly measuring it and not tracking sedentary behavior or lighter physical activity.
The team said the findings support current exercise guidelines as an effective minimum target for cardiovascular protection. However, they added that more personalized recommendations could help motivated individuals further reduce their heart disease risk.
“Future guidelines may need to differentiate between the minimal moderate to vigorous exercise volume required for a basic safety margin and the substantially higher volumes necessary for optimal cardiovascular risk reduction,” they conclude.
Reference: “Joint non-linear dose–response associations of device-measured physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness with cardiovascular disease: a cohort and Mendelian randomisation study” by Zhide Liang, Senyao Du, Shiao Zhao, Xianfei Wang, Qiang Yan, Baichao Xu, Sanfan Ng and Ziheng Ning, 19 May 2026, British Journal of Sports Medicine.
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2025-111351
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“In space we don’t experience any forces, our muscles, our bones immediately start to diminish because we’re not being loaded by those forces,” says Dr Dan Cleather, professor of strength and conditioning at St Mary’s University who is on the team developing the British equipment, HIFIm.
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Coming on the heels of the exercise-crazed 1980s, with its ubiquitous leg warmers and tights, were the 1990s. During the decade, cardio-packed martial arts workout videos and stationary bike spinning classes came into vogue, as well as some new gym lingo. And, while the decade did get some things right when it came to health and fitness — like the Health At Every Size Movement and the culmination of the U.S. government’s push to promote its Healthy People guidelines — it also got some things very wrong, especially when it came to its fitness jargon. We just can’t forget the fact that these popular ’90s catchphrases sounded quite ridiculous, not just today, but even back then. With that said, here are some of the classic cringeworthy slogans of the era, which you might recognize if you’re a Millennial, Gen Xer, or Boomer.
Tae Bo Nation (and Work It)
By the late 1990s, fitness guru Billy Blanks seemed to be touting his Tae Bo kickboxing-meets-martial-arts videos on every screen. Thus, his calls to form a “Tae Bo nation” and to “Work it!” became commonplace.
Interestingly, Blanks refused to follow a script for his Tae Bo videos (via Men’s Health). Consequently, his enthusiasm was totally legitimate (and smile-inducing) for everyone involved. As Blanks told The New York Times in 2026, “Even though we were working out hard, we were having so much fun with doing it.”
Unlike many fitness trends that completely disappeared, Tae Bo has demonstrated some staying power, with today’s generation rediscovering the classic workout, albeit without the “Work it!” catchphrase or the tight neon outfits.
Abs of steel
The 1980s saw the birth of “Buns of Steel” workout videos, featuring glute-burning exercises. The slogan took on a new form in the 1990s and became “Abs of Steel,” a branded workout featuring toned fitness instructor Tamilee Web that eventually took off as a catchphrase as well.
Even nowadays, it’s used as a figure of expression (or even ironically in memes) because of how everyone associates well-developed abs with toughness. Obviously, though, everyone knows that toned abs aren’t literally as hard as steel. (Check out these ab exercises that should be in your workout routine.)
Boo-yah!
In the ’90s, it wasn’t that uncommon to hear someone utter, “Boo-yah!” after any great accomplishment, like winning at sports or completing a particularly intense workout. In fact, the strange term became a one-word catchphrase after ESPN reporter Stuart Scott kept saying it during the early part of the decade.
According to Scott’s college friend Fred Tindal (via The Ringer), “boo-yah” was a misspelling of how someone used to describe the sound of a thunderstorm to them (“crack crack crack crack crack boo-yaw”). Interestingly, while Scott popularized the phrase, he didn’t invent it; experts traced its roots to West Coast hip-hop (per Slate).
Stop the insanity!
Fitness star Susan Powter gained popularity in the 1990s for her passionate cry to “Stop the insanity,” a rallying call for people to move beyond restrictive dieting and fad fitness trends toward true holistic health. Though it earned Powter positive attention (and a guest spot on “The Tonight Show”), her catchphrase also became the subject of jokes and spoofs on various TV shows of the era.
Ultimately, Powter’s following faded. But while her catchphrase is no longer popular, its message remains significant, as evidenced by the growing movement towards fitness at any size.
Squeeze your way to shapely hips and thighs
Longtime actress and model Suzanne Somers shook up the 1990s when she starred in ThighMaster exercise product infomercials, where she claimed it was possible to “squeeze your way to shapely hips and thighs.”
Consumers seemed to buy into the silly slogan: On the “Hollywood Raw” podcast, Somers claimed that they “stopped counting” when they reached 10 million copies sold (via Yahoo!).
But does Somers’ ThighMaster actually work, as the catchphrase suggests? “[With the ThighMaster], you’ll build muscle, but it’s not going to be functional in any way,” fitness expert Justin Price told the Los Angeles Times, reinforcing what we know about spot reduction being fiction.
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