Embrace the simplicity, ease and accessibility of walking for exercise by participating in National Walking Day!
National Walking Day Timeline
Hippocrates Recommends Walking for Health
The Greek physician Hippocrates famously describes walking as “man’s best medicine,” encouraging regular walks as a simple way to preserve health and prevent disease.
Galen Systematizes Walking as Therapeutic Exercise
Roman physician Galen writes about prescribed walking, varying pace, duration, and terrain to treat different conditions, helping to establish walking as a formal part of medical regimens.
Town Walks and Promenades Become Fashionable Exercise
In European cities, landscaped promenades and boulevards are laid out, and walking “for one’s constitution” becomes a recommended pastime among urban elites and the middle classes.
Captain Barclay’s 1,000-Hour Walking Feat
Scottish sportsman Captain Robert Barclay Allardice completes the challenge of walking one mile every hour for 1,000 consecutive hours, turning “pedestrianism” into a mass spectator sport and proving human endurance on foot.
Racewalking Debuts at the Olympic Games
Racewalking appears at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, formalizing rules that one foot must remain on the ground and helping shift competitive walking from Victorian betting spectacle to regulated international sport.
“Manpo-kei” Popularizes the 10,000 Steps Idea in Japan
In the buildup to the Tokyo Olympics, a Japanese company markets the “manpo-kei,” or “10,000 steps meter,” promoting a daily walking target that later becomes a global benchmark for everyday fitness.
WHO Launches the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health
The World Health Organization begins developing what becomes its Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, urging countries to promote simple activities such as regular walking to combat rising chronic disease.
How to Celebrate National Walking Day
Enjoy National Walking Day in a wide variety of ways! Get started celebrating with some of these delightful ideas:
Go for a Walk
Obviously, the most important order of business for National Walking Day is to simply get out there and take a walk.
For a person who takes a daily five mile walk, perhaps this means adding a half mile or just walking to work in celebration of the day. It might even be fun to get that pedometer app on your smartphone working.
But for a person who is typically sedentary, this could mean parking the car at the back of the parking lot at work and walking up to the door, or walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
While the goal from the American Heart Association would be to walk 30 minutes a day, any little walking that can be done is an improvement and a help!
Get Some New Walking Shoes
One of the big barriers between people and healthy walking habits can be their shoes.
Celebrate National Walking Day in style by heading over to the shoe store to get a new pair of shoes that are particularly supportive for walking. Try a walking shoe from brands like Brooks, Reebok, Merrell and many others.
Or, for those who have a good pair of shoes that are perhaps a bit older and don’t yet need to be replaced, get some new insoles.
Go to the pharmacy or drugstore (or even the podiatrist) and pick out a pair of supportive insoles for those walking shoes to give the support and comfort you need and want.
Find a Walking Buddy
Many habits are much more effective when they factor in the accountability of a friend or family member.
Finding a walking buddy for National Walking Day and beyond can significantly increase the chances that a person will stick with their new habit of walking. Invite a friend to walk daily, several times a week, or even once a week. Then see where this new habit leads.
History of National Walking Day
Walking is an important part of better health and well-being, not only for heart health and physical health, but mental and emotional health as well. National Walking Day got its start in 2007 as a simple way for people to get just a little bit healthier.
The American Heart Association established the day to encourage people to get off the couch, get out there and participate in some easy and accessible physical activity.
Situated in early April, National Walking Day comes after the long, cold winter when many people have found themselves to be less active.
But as the spring weather comes and the days get longer, the first Wednesday in April is the perfect time to pick up a new habit of regular walking – or to be encouraged to restart an old one.
Facts About National Walking Day
Walking Just 11 Minutes a Day Can Extend Life
Large population studies have found that even modest amounts of brisk walking have measurable benefits for longevity.
A 2023 analysis of more than 30,000 adults reported that about 75 minutes per week of moderate activity, such as a brisk 11‑minute walk each day, was associated with a 23 percent lower risk of early death compared with being inactive.
Benefits continued to increase with more activity, but this relatively small daily walk already moved people out of the highest‑risk group.
Step Count Matters More Than Speed
Research supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health has shown that the total number of steps a person takes in a day is more strongly linked to lower mortality risk than how fast those steps are taken.
In a study of nearly 4,800 adults followed for about 10 years, people who walked 8,000 steps or more per day had significantly lower risk of death than those who took 4,000 steps, and once step count was accounted for, step intensity did not provide additional mortality benefit.
Health Benefits Begin Well Below 10,000 Steps
The familiar benchmark of 10,000 steps per day grew out of marketing for a 1960s Japanese pedometer, not from medical evidence, and newer research suggests that meaningful health gains start far below that point.
A 2023 review by Radboud University Medical Center found measurable improvements in health markers from around 2,500 steps per day, with substantial reductions in risk of cardiovascular disease and early death between roughly 4,000 and 9,000 daily steps, after which benefits began to level off.
A Few Extra Daily Steps Can Lower Heart and Stroke Risk
Meta‑analyses summarized by the American Heart Association show that even small increases in daily walking add up to real protection for the heart and blood vessels.
Across several large cohorts, adding just 500 steps per day was associated with about a 7 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular causes, while an extra 1,000 steps per day was linked to roughly a 22 percent lower risk of death from any cause, suggesting that incremental changes in walking habits can have outsized health effects.
Walking Supports the Aging Brain
Regular walking appears to help protect the brain as people grow older, not only the heart and muscles.
A 2023 review in the journal GeroScience reported that habitual walking is associated with a lower risk or slower progression of cognitive decline and dementia, partly through improved blood flow to the brain, reduced inflammation, and better control of vascular risk factors such as high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
Modern Cities Are Being Redesigned Around Walkability
Urban planners increasingly treat walking as essential infrastructure, not just a leisure activity.
The World Health Organization notes that “walkable” cities with continuous sidewalks, safe street crossings, mixed‑use zoning, and access to green space help reduce air pollution, traffic injuries, and obesity, while also strengthening social connection.
Many municipalities now use walkability scores and pedestrian‑priority street designs as core tools for improving public health.
Forest Walking Can Lower Stress Hormones
Japan’s practice of shinrin‑yoku, or “forest bathing,” often centers on slow, mindful walking through wooded areas, and it has been studied for its physiological effects.
Experiments led by Japan’s Chiba University found that participants who walked in forest environments showed significantly lower concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol, reduced heart rate and blood pressure, and increased feelings of calm compared with walking the same distance in urban settings.
