When you walk changes the impact on your health
Whether you walk around for five minutes every hour during a desk-bound workday or spend 90 minutes taking 10,000 steps in the park, you want to walk often and in as many different circumstances as possible. That will improve your heart health by strengthening the heart muscle and, a new study shows, rewiring it so that you can avoid angina and A-fib. It also dispels stress, improves balance and prevents loss of muscle tone. But that's not all, depending on the time of day that you take your walks.
Morning walks: Two studies show that walking early promotes increased weight loss. One, in the International Journal of Obesity, says it's most effective if you don't eat before you walk. And the other suggests that if you're obese, morning walks increase your consistency, and that helps increase weight loss. An added bonus: Morning walks help get your circadian rhythm in step, so you sleep better.
Mid-day walks: Afternoon walks, either in repeated short breaks or a longer excursion, help interrupt sedentary behavior that promotes cardiovascular disease, increases elevated insulin and glucose levels and raises blood pressure. Mid-day strolls also improve levels of lousy LDL according to a U.K. study.
Evening walks: Heading out for a 30-to-60-minute walk right after dinner also bestows positive effects on your blood glucose level and reduces your blood pressure.
For even more ways to walk into a longer, healthier lifespan, check out the AI coaching at 4YOUngevity.com and the audio book "YOU: On a Walk."
Health pioneer Michael Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer emeritus at the Cleveland Clinic and author of four No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. Check out his latest, "The Great Age Reboot: Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow," and find out more at www.4YOUngevity.com. Email your health and wellness questions to Dr. Mike at drmikerealage@gmail.com.
(c)2026 Michael Roizen, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
(c) 2026 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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