Forget steps, this is how you maximize the benefits of walking.

Do you need to do anything special to benefit from daily walking?

Common advice, such as a goal of 10,000 steps a day, may make you think that maximizing the benefits of walking means going for long walks or maintaining a brisk pace.

What does the research actually show?

Health benefits of walking

As he saidScientific warningWalking works the muscles in your arms, chest, back, abdomen, hips and legs, and although it doesn’t take much effort to coordinate all of these muscles, your head will get a workout as you walk.

Short walking-based exercises are used in the treatment and rehabilitation of many clinical conditions, including obesity and stroke.

This could be useful information for programs designed to help people lose weight while still deriving benefits from exercise, such as treating disorders.

As he saidIncA large study of 140,000 adults from the American Health Sciences Association found that walking just two hours a week—15 minutes a day—can reduce disease risk and prolong life.

These findings apply to many types of exercise.

Science has proven that the rhythm of your feet and gentle attention to your surroundings as you walk can boost creativity and help you find ways to overcome physical stress.

This is why many of history’s greatest thinkers were avid travelers.

Why stopping to smell the roses makes walking healthy?

So how do you maximize your chances of realizing all these great benefits?

In a recent study, a team of Italian researchers measured the oxygen consumption of study participants as they performed short bursts of walking on a treadmill for 10 to 240 seconds.

Accordingly, a short walk will help your metabolism move more than walking the same distance without resting.

What they found is that our bodies are like cars.

This means walking, which burns a lot of energy and can have a significant impact on fitness and health, is not something people rush through with the sole goal of running at full speed.

In fact, many studies show that spending time paying attention to the nature around you increases overall happiness and health.

The lesson here is that if your goal is to maximize the health benefits of a daily walk, you should feel free to chat, admire the sights, or breathe.

However, there are some notes to keep in mind.

Second, all study participants were healthy young adults, so these recommendations may not apply if you have certain health conditions.

If you’re a professional athlete or veteran triathlete, they’re definitely not for you.

This is good news for those who are less serious about exercise.

But if you’re looking to give your feet a little extra boost, consider taking a break when you need it.