Benefits of Walking

Research shows you're likely to live longer if you walk at least:

• Correct! You answered: 5.5 miles per week
  
   

Walking this much at a slow pace of 2 miles per hour can be enough to lower your risk of things like heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure by 31%. People who walked farther and faster got even more benefit, in case you needed some extra motivation.

Women who walk 30 minutes a day may cut their risk of stroke by:

• Correct! You answered: 20% - 40%

Just a little can do wonders to help your blood move through your body the way it should. Any time you can spend walking is good, but push yourself a little: Getting your heart rate up can strengthen it and lower your blood pressure.

• Fitness & Exercise

Do You Know the Benefits of Walking?

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Brisk walking counts as cardio exercise.

• Correct! You answered: True

Ideally, you should log at least 150 minutes of exercise that raises your heart rate every week. Walking can definitely count toward this goal. You don’t need any special equipment (except a decent pair of shoes), and you can do it practically anywhere. But to get cardio credit, you have to do more than stroll to the fridge and back. If you can belt out a song, you need to pick up the pace.

If you walk 10,000 steps, you've gone about:

• Incorrect! You answered: 1 mile
• Correct Answer: 5 miles

This is a good goal for overall health. If you can’t quite make that, any walking you do helps. You can work your way up slowly: Use a pedometer to count your steps, and try to kick it up by at least 500 each week.

Walking is as good for your heart as running.

• Correct! You answered: True, if you do enough of it

For years, many experts thought that really pushing yourself -- and your heart rate -- was the best way to strengthen your heart. But it turns out that brisk walking is just as good when it comes to cutting your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes -- as long as you do about twice as much of it.