Walking is one of the best forms of exercise there is, boosting everything from cardiovascular health to mood. But if you’re one of the many people who track their daily step count, hoping to reach a particular number, you might want to rethink your strategy.
Rather than focusing on a total number of steps – or even distance – accumulated over the course of a day, new research says we should be thinking in terms of the amount of time we walk for.
An international team of scientists reporting in Annals of Internal Medicine found that one longer walk per day is better for the heart than several shorter strolls. The study of 33,560 adults from the UK Biobank, all of whom amassed an average of 8,000 or fewer daily steps, showed that people who concentrated their walking into one or two bouts lasting 10-15 minutes cut their risk of cardiovascular disease compared with those who built up their steps in brief walks of less than five minutes.
“If you walk a little, set aside some time to walk more often and in longer sessions,” says the study co-author, Borja del Pozo Cruz, an associate professor and epidemiologist at the European University of Madrid. “Such small changes can have a big impact.”
Here’s our guide to the benefits of walking for different lengths of time.
15-minute walk
Calories burnt: 60-90
As the mother of a five-year-old, I’m constantly dashing about – but with a full-time job to juggle, my walking tends to be in short, manic bursts scattered throughout the day.
“Something is always better than nothing,” says Amanda Daley, a professor of behavioural medicine at Loughborough University. “Even relatively small amounts can make a positive difference,” she says.
But extending one or two of my daily walks to at least 15 minutes would boost my heart health significantly, according to the new study, which found that people who made their daily steps in “snack form” of less than five minutes for each outing were at 13.03 per cent risk of heart disease, whereas the risk for the longer-duration group was reduced to 4.39 per cent.
The reason for this is that 15 minutes works the cardiovascular system for long enough to improve blood flow, strengthen the heart muscle and trigger metabolic changes. Of course, pace matters, and for this duration, it’s important to aim for “brisk”.
Dr Paddy Dempsey, a research fellow at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, and an honorary fellow at the University of Cambridge MRC Epidemiology Unit, says: “A good rule of thumb is ‘brisk enough that you can talk, but not sing’. In practice, it usually means being slightly out of breath, and feelings of warmth or light sweating after a few minutes. It’s a faster-than-normal walking pace, but still comfortable.”
Swinging your arms, walking with an upright posture and relaxed shoulders and trying to add in some hills or uneven terrain will all help, too.
“More vigorous activity stimulates the body to adapt to the higher effort required, meaning each minute packs more physiological load,” he says. “That means you can achieve meaningful benefits in a shorter time.”
These short, brisk walks are not only excellent for cardiovascular fitness, but also blood sugar control, says Dr Dempsey. “Glucose is taken up more efficiently,” he says – and afterwards, our blood sugar control is improved for hours.
Research has shown that short, consistent activity such as brisk walking is also helpful in reducing belly fat. A 2024 review of 84 randomised controlled trials found that this type of aerobic activity, of at least moderate intensity, significantly reduced visceral adipose tissue – the fat stored deep inside the abdomen, which poses an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and certain cancers.
30-minute walk
Calories burnt: 120-180
Walking for 30 minutes every day is an easy way to hit the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity, and if you’re able to maintain a fairly brisk pace for this length of time, the health benefits increase.
“Your heart is working for a longer period of time, which is making it more efficient, and your muscles are getting stronger because they’re carrying you for longer,” says Prof Daley.
As a result, you’ll burn more calories, making it ideal for weight loss as well as a host of other benefits including a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer and depression.
“The benefits generally scale with duration,” says Dr Dempsey, a co-author of a recent international review of 57 studies published in The Lancet, which debunked the myth of 10,000 steps as the target we should all aim for.
The research, encompassing data from more than 160,000 people, showed that every extra 1,000 steps brought better health outcomes.
One major benefit of a daily 30-minute walk could be a significant boost to your brain health, building connections between brain networks that help to prevent age-related cognitive decline and possibly even slowing the onset of dementia.
Research from the University of Maryland found that walking for 30 minutes four days a week was enough to improve memory even in people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, defined as a dip in mental abilities such as memory and reasoning.
In the short term, exercise increases blood flow to the brain and stimulates the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine, which help a range of cognitive functions. A 2024 study, from University College London, suggests these benefits could last longer: it showed that 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity contributed to improved cognitive performance the day after, among adults aged 50-83, with no evidence of cognitive impairment.
A walk of this length is likely to be slower, at least at times, than a 15-minute version, so Dr Dempsey recommends varying intensity. “Include mini-surges – try picking up the pace for 30-60 seconds a few times during a walk,” he suggests.
Such short, vigorous bursts – or “fartlek training”, as it’s known in Sweden – mean our body adapts to moving at different speeds, which improves muscle endurance. If the surge is fast enough, it can count as a vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity, or Vilpa. Five to 10 of these per day have been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and premature death significantly.
Timing your walk to immediately after meals could have an added benefit: research in people with type 2 diabetes found that a 30-minute walk after meals lowered blood glucose more effectively than at other times.
45-minute walk
Calories burnt: 180-270
This longer walk will “increase total energy expenditure and cardiovascular load, so you get a gradual ‘dose-response’ improvement as duration increases”, says Dr Dempsey.
In other words, the longer you walk, the more the benefits increase – although the review he co-authored suggested that beyond around 7,000 steps (which would take around an hour, depending on pace) these benefits begin to level off.
For those who can continue to walk briskly for 45 minutes or more, walks of this duration are one of the most effective ways to lose weight over time, particularly belly fat. The metabolism is elevated for a sustained period, improving insulin sensitivity and promoting hormonal changes that target stubborn visceral fat around the belly.
In a Korean study, a group of obese midlife women embarked on a programme of walking between 50 and 70 minutes, on three days a week, over 12 weeks. As well as seeing significant reductions in weight and BMI, researchers found that participants had lost an average of 1.5 per cent body fat and 1.1in from around their waists.
However, Prof Daley points out that even when making a long walk a regular part of your routine, it’s still important to move regularly for shorter periods throughout the day. “Sitting and being sedentary for hours every day is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, even for those who exercise regularly,” she says. “One single, long batch of activity won’t offset that.”
If a 45-minute-plus walk sounds daunting, she recommends building up gradually. “Just aim to do a little bit more each day,” she says. “Small changes are a lot easier for people than setting themselves a big goal.”
A longer, steadier walk is also “likely to be best for mental health, stress reduction and sleep”, says Dr Dempsey. This period gives us a chance fully to switch off from stressors, lowering cortisol, and helps regulate our circadian rhythms, especially if we can walk in the morning light.
Ultimately, he says, “you don’t need to pick one length of walk – you can mix and match depending on what fits your day, and what’s most likely to keep you being as physically active as possible.”