Walking: overrated or the next best thing?
Issue #88: Is walking overrated? Read Time: 6 minutes Good afternoon, 66.1ers. Housekeeping: A quick favor: If you find today’s newsletter valuable, could you please share it with one person you think might enjoy it? This would make all the difference to us as we build this newsletter and help people live healthier, for longer. An announcement: As mentioned back in December, the Saturday editions of 66.1 will go behind a paywall sometime later this month. We are making this change so we can continue to deliver the highest-quality newsletter possible and continue to expand our offerings to help you build your health for the long term. If you anticipate difficulty affording the $6.61 monthly subscription fee, please reply here. We'll work something out. A quick refresher for anyone who's new to the newsletter: 66.1 is the average health span (years lived without a serious disease) in the US. We're here to extend that. In case you missed it: In this week's issue of 66.1: A closer look at the conversation around walking and building your health -The benefits of walking BackgroundYou’ve probably heard the news: walking is great for your health. And I’m not here today to burst your bubble if you’re an avid walker. But I’m not here just to tell you to keep walking, either. As I sat down to write today’s issue, I started to think about all the healthiest people I know, especially folks aged 50+ who no longer have biology on their side. What I quickly realized is that, despite the many benefits of walking, none of these folks are maintaining their excellent health simply by walking. They’re doing other things, too. Today, we’ll look at the myriad benefits of walking, then explore exactly how walking can (and should) fit into your fitness routine so you can optimize your health for the long term.
Benefits of walkingExercise, walking especially, is great for you. It has been shown to delay cognitive decline and improve sleep quality, and is beneficial for reducing low back pain. Another study found that walking reduces the risk of depression. There’s also the well-documented positive effect that physical activity (walking) has on cardiovascular fitness. This study found that “taking more steps per day was associated with a progressively lower risk of all-cause mortality, up to a level that varied by age.” In simpler terms, more walking is better, up to a point. And that point depends on your age. The number is around 7,000 for adults older than 60 and 9,000 steps per day for adults younger than 60. Personally, I’ve found that walking has reduced pain in my low back, a knee I tweaked in jiu jitsu, and a shoulder I injured in a mountain biking crash. I’ve also noticed that some of my clearest thoughts come while I’m on a walk. I’m 100% on board with the benefits of walking. Are we losing the plot?Yes, walking is a great activity. It’s the most fundamental exercise a human being can do. But in recent years, walking has received attention as a miracle drug of sorts. Step counters built into smartwatches and smartphones keep your walking output at the front of your mind, always. I’ve spoken with numerous acquaintances recently whose New Year’s Resolution is some version of walking more in 2025 than they did in 2024. And this is commendable. Really, truly, it is. But my fear is that we’ve forgotten that walking is something you’re supposed to be able to do. It’s not extra credit, it’s not going above and beyond. It’s merely table stakes if you hope to be healthy for the 66.1 years the average American is. It’s even more critical if you’d like to be able to pick up your grandchildren off the floor at your 80th birthday party. A piece to the puzzleI haven’t seen a better longevity-oriented framework for exercise than Dr. Peter Attia’s. Dr. Attia advises training to develop the following areas of fitness if you want to be healthy for decades to come: Zone 2 cardio (light exercise–this is where walking is helpful), Zone 5 cardio (high-intensity cardio like sprints), strength (lifting weights), and balance (can be anything from skiing to standing on one foot during your shower). And if we zoom out, we see that walking covers just one of these 4 critical pieces to the “training for longevity” puzzle. It does not cover Zone 5 cardio, certainly is not a strength training workout, and is generally not a challenging balance exercise (obviously this can change depending on surface and terrain). To adopt a phrase from the wise Paul Graham, walking is a necessary activity for longevity, but not a sufficient one. What common sense saysHere’s the deal: As with many things our ancestors did (cultivate healthy relationships, sleep 8 hours per night, eat whole foods, exercise regularly, practice intermittent fasting), walking is advantageous for building your health. There’s no disputing that. My concern is that walking is being oversold as a silver bullet for building your health. As the saying goes, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. It’s a great way to get your Zone 2 cardio, to spend time in nature, to recover from a hard workout, and to have a conversation with someone important to you. Despite all those benefits, though… You’re probably not going to step your way to 100 years on this planet. Once you’ve hit your daily 7,000 steps, your time is better spent developing other critical longevity benchmarks: your VO2 max, strength, and balance. The true recipe for longevity is much more complicated than walking for 10 minutes every day. It takes real work, and anyone promising a shortcut–whether it’s Novo Nordisk with Ozempic or The New York Times with walking–is doing you a disservice. Have fun out there. Marcus Why 66.1? |
