Is walking enough, or do I really need to do strength training too?
Walking is good, but strength training adds something walking cannot: preserving muscle mass, strengthening bones and keeping your metabolism in shape. Even half an hour of muscle-strengthening exercises per week makes a measurable difference.
Walking does a great deal of good. Brisk walking, at least 70% of your maximum heart rate, improves your cardiovascular fitness, your cholesterol, your blood pressure and your blood sugar. Your leg and core muscles also get stronger as a result. That is a meaningful health gain.
Walking does, however, have one blind spot: bone density. Walking can slow further bone loss to some extent, but to actually increase bone density you need exercises in which your muscles work against resistance. The same applies to muscle mass. Without strength training, adults lose 3 to 8% of muscle mass per decade. Ten weeks of strength training adds an average of 1.4 kg of muscle mass, reduces fat mass by 1.8 kg and increases the number of calories burned at rest by 7%. Walking does not deliver that.
The greatest benefit lies in the combination. People who both move sufficiently and do muscle-strengthening exercises have a much lower risk of premature death than people who only walk or only do strength exercises. Even half an hour to an hour of muscle-strengthening activity per week is associated with a clearly lower risk of death, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. More than that one hour per week does not always yield additional benefit for mortality and cardiovascular disease, so the bar is not high.
If you want to intensify your walking but are not yet ready to pick up weights, interval walking is an intermediate step. By alternating repeatedly between fast and slower walking, you also improve your muscle strength and blood sugar regulation, especially if you have type 2 diabetes. Whether this works just as well in the long term as short studies suggest is not yet clear. Women, incidentally, achieve the same survival benefit as men with an average of 140 minutes of physical activity per week, while men need an average of 300 minutes to reach the same benefit.
This answer is based on several large studies in which participants were followed for many years, supplemented by smaller studies on the specific effects of strength and walking training. The association between combined exercise and mortality is consistent and large, but no single study has conclusively established cause and effect: people who exercise a great deal may also live differently in other ways. The bone density finding comes from older research and focuses specifically on osteoporosis.
Does walking do enough to maintain your muscles?
Walking alone is not enough to maintain muscle as you age. Add strength training and ensure adequate protein intake for the best results.
How often and how hard should I strength train?
Start with 2 to 3 training days per week, sets of 8 to 12 repetitions close to your maximum, and increase the weight as soon as you can add extra repetitions. This approach demonstrably builds both strength and muscle mass at every level.
Does walking in green spaces or nature benefit your health?
Walking in green spaces or living close to green space shows clear indications of a positive effect, particularly on stress and physical activity. The evidence is largely observational, but consistent enough to take seriously.
Does strength training help with healthy ageing?
Strength training is one of the best-supported interventions for healthy ageing: training two to three times per week with progressive resistance demonstrably improves muscle strength, mobility and independence, even at an advanced age.
How much exercise do I need to live longer?
The biggest health gain comes from just a little exercise. Going from nothing to 150 minutes per week gives a 31% lower risk of premature death; after that the benefit increases somewhat more, but levels off.
Is it helpful to occasionally go for a long walk, or are short bursts of movement spread throughout the day better?
Short bursts of movement spread throughout the day appear to be at least as valuable as one long walk, and for people who otherwise do not exercise even a few minutes of vigorous movement per day is already meaningful. Combine both: move regularly in short, vigorous bursts and avoid prolonged sitting blocks of more than half an hour.