The health benefits of taking a long walk
Lace up those sneakers! Research says that walking is fantastic for your health. Incorporating more steps into your day can better your heart and lung health, help you manage your weight, improve your sleep quality, and lower your risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension. Then there are the mental health perks, such as reducing stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression, which should encourage you to lace up your shoes and go.
Experts debate how many steps are needed daily, but a 2024 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that walking between 9,000 and 10,500 steps provides the most benefits. However, even walking more than 2,200 steps a day can help you live longer, as well as lower your risk of heart disease.
As it turns out, it's not just the amount of steps completed but how they're taken. With extended walks, there are unique advantages, whether it's tackling the 6-6-6 challenge and taking at least one 60-minute walk a day, crossing your city on foot or hiking a scenic trail, as more and more Americans are doing these days.
Chris Mohr, a fitness and nutrition advisor at BarBend, tells Yahoo Life that longer walks (say, more than 30 minutes) offer distinct benefits. 'Long walks improve circulation, strengthen the heart and enhance lung capacity by sustaining aerobic activity for an extended period,' he says. That means the longer you keep walking, the more you build endurance for your heart and lungs, making them stronger and more efficient.
The same principle applies to your muscles. Extended walks help strengthen your calves, glutes and hamstrings. There are even greater benefits when you tackle inclines, such as during a long hike: Uphill walking engages more muscle fibers, enhancing endurance, stability and overall lower-body strength.
A long walk increases the blood flow to the brain too — something shorter walks can't do as effectively because they don't keep the heart rate elevated for an extended period. This effect leads to improved cognitive function, a reduction in stress and better mood, Mohr notes.
Plus, you're more likely to get into a meditative state on a longer walk than a shorter one, Michelle English, a licensed clinical social worker at Healthy Life Recovery, tells Yahoo Life. 'Long walks, unlike short bursts, allow you to enter a meditative state where the repetitive motion and rhythm can help quiet the mind,' she explains.
If you head outside, these walks 'also provide more time in nature or fresh air, which adds restorative elements to mental well-being,' English says. Research has shown that spending time in nature can lower our anxiety and stress levels.
Melissa Worley, Mindbody + ClassPass Wellness Council Member and personal trainer, tells Yahoo Life that long walks are also especially good for weight loss. For one thing, you're capable of walking for long durations before feeling fatigued, meaning you can burn more calories the longer you go. And walking 'involves a lower injury risk compared to high-impact exercises like running,' she says.
And while moving more can help you lose weight, Ronny Garcia, a personal trainer at Blink Fitness, tells Yahoo Life that you should consider longer walks if your goal is to lose fat. 'After 30 minutes of walking, the body starts to utilize stored fat as an energy source,' he explains.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that brisk walking is a moderate-intensity activity, and they recommend that individuals get 150 minutes of this type of exercise per week. While you can break up that 150 minutes however you want, there are benefits of stretching your walks past a brief stroll: Long walks are a sustained cardiovascular activity that won't lead to a risk of injury and are simple and free to start.
Need some motivation to hit the trail for a longer period of time? Worley tells Yahoo Life that she likes to 'habit stack' when it comes to longer walks. 'I do this by listening to a fun audiobook or podcast to stay motivated,' she says.
Working out indoors? You can throw on your favorite TV show while on a treadmill or walking pad instead — you may find it motivates you to get stepping.
One thing to keep in mind: While long walks are great, it's important not to let your big walk stop you from moving throughout the day. Sedentary time comes with health risks — yes, even if you regularly workout — so get up off the couch or desk chair and move for a few minutes at least every half hour, even if you already crushed a five-mile walk in the morning.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ants With Potentially Fatal Sting Spotted in 20 U.S. States
Americans should be on alert for a stinging insect that's spreading across the United States this June. So far, at least 20 states have detected Asian needle ants. They've been found mostly in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the United States. However, some were spotted in Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Asian needle ants were first discovered in the United States in 1932. The U.S. Forest Service said it takes "an experienced eye" to positively identify them. Dan Suiter, a professor for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, spoke to ABC News about this invasive species. He has received calls from three separate people who suffered anaphylaxis after getting stung by an Asian needle ant. "In 25 years, I've had one phone call from an individual who was stung by a fire ant and suffered anaphylaxis, another one by something called a twig ant," Suiter told ABC News. "When I start getting calls annually about people who have been stung by an Asian needle ant, it says to me that there's a trend there." If you're stung by an Asian needle ant you could also develop symptoms such as hives and itching, low blood pressure, swollen tongue or throat, nausea, dizziness, weak or rapid pulse, and difficulty breathing. Asian needle ants usually nest themselves in dark, hidden hardwood habitats. Their population typically grows during the warmer weather months. Suiter is recommending that people remove nesting sites of hardwood. That's if they're going to be working outside this summer. Ants With Potentially Fatal Sting Spotted in 20 U.S. States first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 10, 2025
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
There's one vice RFK Jr. isn't talking about
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made it his mission to remind Americans that they need to get off the couch and lay off the junk food. But there's one vice he's not talking about: smoking. That's troubled anti-smoking activists, researchers who focus on the diseases tobacco causes and Democrats in Congress who point out that smoking, despite a marked decline in recent years, still leads to more preventable deaths than anything else. Even so, Kennedy didn't mention the health impacts of smoking once in last month's Make America Healthy Again report assessing the biggest threats to Americans' health. That marks a turning point from the priorities of public health officials going back decades, including the Biden administration's, which targeted smoking as part of a moonshot plan to halve cancer death rates. Anti-tobacco advocates fear deemphasizing the dangers of tobacco could slow or even halt progress in driving down smoking rates. 'Attempting to combat chronic disease without tobacco control is like attempting a triathlon without a bicycle,' said Brian King, whom Kennedy pushed out of his job as the Food and Drug Administration's top tobacco regulator in April. 'You're destined for failure before leaving the starting line.' Since President Donald Trump's inauguration, his health agencies appear to have shelved two moves King planned to combat smoking: banning the last remaining legal cigarette flavoring, menthol, and requiring companies to reduce the amount of nicotine in their products. Nicotine is what makes cigarettes addictive. But an HHS spokesperson said the department 'remains steadfast in its mission to protect and promote public health,' adding that the MAHA report is not an 'exhaustive inventory of every HHS program or public health challenge.' 'HHS agencies continue to carry out their responsibilities, including work on tobacco control, with the highest level of integrity and commitment to the American public,' the spokesperson said. A sustained public health campaign to educate Americans about smoking's risks over decades has driven a huge decrease in use. In the 1960s, more than 4 in 10 adults smoked cigarettes. Now it's fewer than 1 in 8. And the public health success among kids is even starker. Fewer than 1 in 26 now smoke cigarettes, according to an analysis of federal data. The negative health impacts of tobacco use are well-studied and vast. For years it has been the top preventable cause of death in the United States, contributing to cancer, heart disease and stroke. But when Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) quizzed Kennedy about that during a budget hearing last month, asking him to name the 'No. 1 cause of preventable death in America today,' Kennedy was stumped. 'I'm not sure what you're talking about,' he said. Kennedy's apparent lack of interest in combating smoking — the word 'tobacco' appears in the MAHA report only within the context of his concerns about food marketing while 'smoking' and 'cigarettes' are never mentioned — also suggests this Trump administration won't be like the first. Then, Trump's FDA commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, put the menthol ban and the limits on nicotine on the table, drawing applause from anti-smoking activists. Congress permitted the agency to make those moves in a 2009 law. That law banned flavorings except menthol — which is a cash cow for Marlboro cigarette maker Philip Morris, whose support helped get the law passed — but gave the FDA the power to decide whether to ban it. It also gave the agency the power to force cigarette companies to reduce nicotine levels. The Obama administration didn't do so. President Joe Biden proposed limiting nicotine levels after the 2024 election but never finalized the rule. A Biden plan to ban menthol cigarettes in 2022 was also not finalized. Menthol is popular among Black smokers, and some Democrats feared a ban could alienate crucial voters in a presidential election year. Jerome Adams, who was surgeon general during the first Trump term, said he wants Kennedy to prioritize the tobacco regulations laid out in Gottlieb's tobacco regulation plan — an effort he said would benefit youth and marginalized communities that are disproportionately impacted by menthol cigarettes. 'These proposed regulations align with the MAHA movement's focus on preventing chronic diseases,' Adams said. The tobacco industry spent heavily on Trump's 2024 campaign — and already has a lot to show for it. Trump pledged to 'save' vaping on his social media site, Truth Social, in September after meeting with Vapor Technology Association Executive Director Tony Abboud. The Trump administration pushed King — whom the tobacco industry had criticized for years — out of his job leading the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products. Job dismissals led by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency also gutted the CDC Office on Smoking and Health, which oversees federal smoking cessation programs and studies. The Trump administration also slashed funds the National Institutes of Health disburses to research facilities, which scientists say could imperil tobacco smoking studies. Asked about the industry's contributions to the Trump campaign, White House spokesperson Kush Desai wrote in an email, 'the only special interest guiding the Administration's decision-making is the best interest of the American people.' Tobacco-control advocates say Trump's early moves could undermine the country's progress diminishing smoking and the diseases it causes. 'These levels are decreasing because we have made such a commitment over the past few decades to enact things to work to get these levels down,' said Catharine Young, a Biden administration official who worked on his cancer moonshot initiative. 'But if you stop that or if you don't increase that effort, they're not going to continue to go down. They're either going to flat line, or they're going to start rising again.' Both Democratic and Republican administrations have hesitated to use all the regulatory authorities the 2009 law granted them. After Gottlieb resigned in March 2019, the agency's efforts to advance his 2017 tobacco plan were snuffed out. 'With his resignation, we lost the champion for the 2017 plan, and some months after he resigned, I was literally ordered by political appointees at FDA to stop talking publicly about menthol and nicotine,' said Mitch Zeller, who led the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products before King. Ultimately, Zeller wasn't able to implement a menthol ban or nicotine limits during any of the three administrations he served. During Biden's administration, then-FDA Commissioner Robert Califf enlisted allies outside the government to lobby the White House after agency efforts to ban menthol cigarettes were held up at the Office of Management and Budget. But the final rule was not published before Biden left office. 'They caved to political pressure from cigarette companies,' Zeller said. The FDA estimated the plan to limit nicotine levels in cigarettes proposed during the Biden administration would avert 4.3 million deaths and prevent 48 million youth and young adults from starting habitual cigarette smoking by the end of the century if implemented. And banning menthol cigarettes in the U.S. would cut 324,000 to 654,000 smoking-attributable deaths by 2060, according to modeling studies cited in the 2022 proposal. Luis Pinto, a spokesperson for Reynolds American, the maker of Lucky Strike, Camel and Newport cigarettes, said the company has not yet met with Trump's FDA commissioner, Marty Makary. Pinto said the company is opposed to a menthol cigarette ban because it believes there are "more effective and sustainable ways to help adult smokers transition away from combustible cigarettes." 'Rather than setting a nicotine standard, the focus should be on expanding access to a diverse and innovative portfolio of potentially reduced-risk products,' Pinto said. 'Tobacco harm reduction, not prohibition, is the most effective path forward in reducing the health impacts of smoking.' On Capitol Hill, Kennedy has rarely discussed tobacco despite his focus on preventing chronic disease, disappointing lawmakers like Durbin, the second ranking Democrat in the Senate. In an interview with POLITICO, Durbin emphasized the tobacco industry is still a threat to public health, especially as it markets more novel forms of nicotine exposure like vaping, which has become popular among younger Americans. 'The tobacco companies have not given up. Their basic approach is to addict children to their product, and so now they're using vaping and [other] devices to get … high schoolers in America addicted to forms of nicotine,' Durbin said, referring to Gottlieb as a hero. 'I just don't think you can credibly say you're addressing public health in America and ignore tobacco and vaping.' King, who's now with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an anti-smoking group, is still hoping to convince Trump officials that going after tobacco needs to be part of the MAHA agenda. And he says he sees hope in the FDA's crackdown on illegal e-cigarettes, which he interprets as a sign the government is looking to snuff out unapproved vaping products. 'We have seen the decimation of tobacco control infrastructure,' King said. 'It's important you have the resources and the people.'
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NuggMD Now Serves All Eligible Medical Cannabis Patients Nationwide via Secure Telehealth Platform
Trusted Telemedicine Platform for Medical Marijuana Expands Access Across 25+ States Where Legal Los Angeles, June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NuggMD, the nation's leading medical marijuana telehealth platform, is proud to announce that it now provides secure access to medical cannabis evaluations in every state where telemedicine is legally permitted for medical marijuana recommendations. This milestone solidifies NuggMD's position as the most accessible and trusted telehealth solution for patients seeking legal, medical cannabis care across the United States. The expansion comes at a time when patients nationwide are seeking alternative wellness solutions, and state regulations are increasingly embracing the role of telemedicine in expanding healthcare access. NuggMD now serves patients in over 25 states, offering HIPAA-compliant virtual consultations with licensed medical professionals 7 days a week. 'Millions of Americans still face unnecessary barriers to medical cannabis access,' said a spokesperson for NuggMD. 'With our national expansion, we're helping to break down those barriers by delivering fast, safe, and fully compliant telehealth services to qualified patients no matter where they live.' Serving Over 1 Million Patients – With Compassion and Convenience Since its launch in 2016, NuggMD has facilitated over 1 million medical cannabis evaluations, making it the most widely used and patient-trusted telemedicine platform in the space. By providing instant access to state-licensed healthcare providers, NuggMD eliminates the delays, confusion, and cost burdens often associated with in-person clinics. Through NuggMD, patients can: Speak directly with a licensed practitioner via secure video call Get approved in minutes, often within 15–20 minutes of booking Receive instant digital documentation (where permitted by law) Access clear guidance on how to register with their state's MMJ program Experience 100% risk-free evaluations – no charge if not approved Pioneering the Future of Telemedicine in Medical Cannabis As healthcare continues to evolve toward digital-first models, NuggMD remains at the forefront of legal telehealth services for alternative treatments. The company works directly with certified doctors and state regulators to ensure every evaluation meets strict privacy and medical standards. 'We're committed to making medical cannabis more accessible, especially for patients with chronic pain, anxiety, PTSD, and other qualifying conditions,' said a company representative. 'Our platform is built around compassion, security, and compliance.' For a complete list of eligible states and to schedule a consultation, visit: About NuggMDNuggMD is the nation's leading telemedicine platform for medical cannabis evaluations, trusted by over 1 million patients since 2016. With a mission to improve access to alternative wellness care, NuggMD offers safe, secure, and state-compliant evaluations from licensed healthcare professionals across the United States. Contact:NuggMDsupport@ (866) 847-7205https:// Source: NuggMD Legal Disclaimer: This news release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or legal advice. Services are available only in states that allow telehealth for medical cannabis evaluations. Patients must meet eligibility requirements set forth by their respective state programs. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider before beginning any treatment plan. CONTACT: support@ Phone: (866) 847-7205Sign in to access your portfolio
