{"id":347205,"date":"2025-12-15T17:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/347205\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:58:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T17:58:08","slug":"does-walking-build-muscle-burn-fat-or-both-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/347205\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Walking Build Muscle, Burn Fat, or Both?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking is low impact, accessible, and free<\/a>. But does walking build muscle<\/a>?<\/p>\n

In a study<\/a> on global participation rates in sport, walking was found to be the most popular physical activity among adults in four of six global regions including the Americas. But are we accomplishing anything more than getting away from our desks for a few minutes?<\/p>\n

What happens to our bodies when we walk?<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a physiological perspective, walking is a whole body activity,\u201d says Professor Brian Carson<\/a>, exercise physiologist at the University of Limerick and head of science at Whole Supp<\/a>. \u201cWhen we walk we use our muscles to propel us, which increases our energy expenditure, thus increasing the metabolic demands placed on our muscles and the body as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with any exercise, our breathing<\/a> speeds up in order to deliver more oxygen to our muscles. But, because walking is relatively steady state\u2014i.e. not too taxing\u2014we\u2019re unlikely to get out of breath unless there\u2019s an added stressor, like going uphill or at a faster pace.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a neurological effect. \u201cOur brain and nervous system become more active as we take in and process sensory information from the environment around us and from the movement itself, while at the same time providing stimulatory output to the muscles in a coordinated sequence to help us move fluently,\u201d says Carson.<\/p>\n

In fact, a 2014 Stanford University study<\/a> determined that walking provides a significant boost to creative thinking during and after the activity, with an 81% increase in creativity measured in a divergent thinking test compared to when sitting down. Walking outside promoted the highest levels of creativity.<\/p>\n

And while all of this is happening, our body is taking nutrients from our muscle, fat and liver tissues in order to convert them into energy.<\/p>\n

How else does walking help?<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re dragging a petulant dog after you, walking is generally considered a good way to unwind. This is because when we walk at a comfortable pace, our parasympathetic nervous system is activated, triggering a reduction in cortisol, the stress hormone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Walking can also help our brains grow. A 2011 study<\/a> involving 120 older adults found that regular aerobic exercise, such as walking, increased the size of the hippocampus and raised levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. \u201cThis is like fertilizer for your brain, helping brain cells to grow, strengthen and communicate more effectively with each other,\u201d explains Abigail Ireland, peak performance strategist at Understanding Performance<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walking is low impact, accessible, and free. But does walking build muscle? In a study on global participation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,7606,407,84,1778,406,12365],"class_list":{"0":"post-347205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-digital_syndication","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-textbelowcenterfullbleed","14":"tag-wellness","15":"tag-working-out"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}