Physical activity is good for your health! No one needs convincing anymore: physical activity improves quality of life [1] and life expectancy [2]. Lack of physical activity could be the cause of 27 chronic diseases [3], so we would probably all benefit from taking part in physical activity to improve our health and relieve the burden on our social security system, which could also have a positive long-term impact on our country's economic capacity.

Access to physical activity

That said, it must be acknowledged that access to physical activity is not always easy. Many sports and activities are expensive and represent a significant annual budget. Some activities are fairly easy to do on your own, such as strength training at home or running. Without a clear goal, it is true that some people will find it difficult to turn these activities into habits as ingrained as brushing their teeth every day.

Among the activities accessible to all budgets, walking stands out. All you have to do is leave your car at home or park a little further away than usual to make it part of your daily routine. Not only is it not necessarily a chore, but depending on your daily routine, it can also save you some hassle: lower fuel costs, less time spent driving around looking for a parking space, etc.

The benefits of walking

Walking is associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality proportional to the number of steps taken each day [4]. It appears that these health benefits increase up to 10,000 steps per day for people under 60 and 8,000 steps per day for people over 60, after which the reduction is less pronounced.

Graph showing the association between number of steps per day and all-cause mortality. Source: Paluch et al 2022. Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts. The Lancet. Public Health, 7(3), e219–e228. 

It is important to remember that, from the very first steps, walking seems to be good for your health and that increasing the number of steps you take is an excellent idea. However, if you already walk a lot, you may want to consider other ways to adopt healthier lifestyle habits, such as improving your sleep and diet, or perhaps doing some weight training to reap the other benefits that walking does not provide [5].

Let your smartphones and other connected devices guide you: how many steps do you take?

The best way to walk

Walking is a bit like falling forward with your foot in front of you: it doesn't use much energy. If you want to turn this into physical activity, there are several options:

• Walk slowly [6,7]
• Walk in places with elevation changes [8]
• Walk quickly [6,9]
• Carry weight [9]

What you can conclude is that when someone slows you down, it probably tires you out a little more, and in the same way, if you want to increase your level of physical activity during the week, speeding up your pace is an excellent idea, especially if you are carrying a heavy bag.

This little-known fact that walking differently could increase the amount of physical activity you do may explain why people who walk at speeds above 4 km/h are less likely to develop type II diabetes [10].

Take some time to think about how you could organize your day to include a little more walking, or walking at a slightly faster pace.

To help you make the best choices, keep in mind the WHO recommendations for physical activity:

For adults:

• 2.5 to 3 hours of moderate-intensity physical activity per week
• 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week

And if you exceed these thresholds, the benefits increase even more!

So, will walking be your new opportunity for physical activity?

Sources :

1. [1] Marquez, D. X. et al. A systematic review of physical activity and quality of life and well-being. Transl. Behav. Med. 10, 1098–1109 (2020).
2. [2] Lee, I.-M. et al. Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: an analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. Lancet 380, 219–229 (2012).
3. [3] Booth, F. W., Roberts, C. K. & Laye, M. J. Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases. Compr. Physiol. 2, 1143 (2012).
4. [4] Paluch, A. E. et al. Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts. Lancet Public Health 7, e219–e228 (2022).
5. [5] Abou Sawan, S., Nunes, E. A., Lim, C., McKendry, J. & Phillips, S. M. The health benefits of resistance exercise: Beyond hypertrophy and big weights. Exerc Sport Mov 1, e00001 (2023).
6. [6] Schrack, J. A., Simonsick, E. M. & Ferrucci, L. The relationship of the energetic cost of slow walking and peak energy expenditure to gait speed in mid-to-late life. Am. J. Phys. Med. Rehabil. 92, 28–35 (2013).
7. [7] Fiser, W. M. et al. Energetics of walking in elderly people: factors related to gait speed. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 65, 1332–1337 (2010).
8. [8] Looney, D. P. et al. Estimating energy expenditure during level, uphill, and downhill walking. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 51, 1954–1960 (2019).
9. [9] Weyand, P. G., Ludlow, L. W., Nollkamper, J. J. & Buller, M. J. Real-world walking economy: can laboratory equations predict field energy expenditure? J. Appl. Physiol. 131, 1272–1285 (2021).
10. [10] Jayedi, A., Zargar, M.-S., Emadi, A. & Aune, D. Walking speed and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br. J. Sports Med. 58, 334–342 (2024).