TV’s Dr Amir Khan is on a mission to banish a misconception about walking – that it’s a low impact, low benefit activity. And the RSPB president and OS Champion is a huge fan of #walk1000miles.
People think about walking as a gentle stroll rather than a really important form of exercise. But it is. And what’s amazing is that while it’s powerful it’s also so accessible – the perfect entry level form of exercise for people who’d never consider themselves sporty. And it’s not just the physical movement of walking. It’s the wide range of benefits you get because you’re outside, engaging with the world. You’re weight bearing, which is really good long term, building stronger bones, and giving you much less risk of serious conditions like osteoporosis in future.
But walking is also something we tend to do in really nice places. Rather than focusing on just the physicality of the activity, you focus on what’s going on around you. And when we’re outside walking our stress hormone cortisol drops, our heart rate evens out and our blood pressure drops as well. That gives us a sense of calm. At the same time, the levels of our neurotransmitters are going up, so things like dopamine and serotonin start to flood our brain. While you’re getting the calmness from the reduced cortisol, you’re also getting the pleasurable feeling that from being outside and being active. And that combined effort is really, really good for you.
It works in the short term, but the benefits of walking really build in the long term. It helps manage blood pressure and break down fatty deposits, on the outside of our organs and the inside of our blood vessels. It reduces your risk of heart attacks and strokes. It improves your muscle strength, taking the pressure of your bones and your joints, reducing the risk of developing arthritis. I’m a specialist in type 2 diabetes, and walking is a brilliant way to make it better.
Walking reduces our risk of anxiety, depression and low mood. That’s been really important to me, particularly over the last couple of years working in the NHS in the pandemic. And now with the pressure of the backlog, getting the country walking is even more important because it would really take some of the pressure off the health service.
You don’t need experience to get started. Even if you just go to your local park for five or 10 minutes to begin with and slowly build it up, it will be really good for you. When I prescribe it to patients, I try to recommend going with someone else – that encourages you to do it more, and it’s really helpful to break down any social isolation.
It sounds like a huge athletic achievement to walk a thousand miles. But actually it’s something that the vast majority of people can do. We should try and encourage as many people as possible to do it. The journey starts at their front door, and what generally happens is people realise once they get started is, oh gosh, I didn’t know walking was so enjoyable. But it really is!
We need to remember walking was our primary way of getting around for all the time we were evolving. It’s for everyone, everyone can do it. It doesn’t belong to one group of people, and one of my one of my passions is get more people from all backgrounds feel the benefit of walking. Growing up where I did, walking wasn’t the kind of thing we did. But as I grew up, I realised it was something I’d been missing out on for so long. And I really don’t want people to miss out anymore. I love the fact there are now diverse walking groups and challenges like this where everyone feels 100% welcome.
I’m a wildlife enthusiast too, and one of the one of the most exciting things about walking is the things you see. When you’re out on a walk and you see a bird of prey, or a fox or a hare or a deer trots by, it’s amazing – and it stays with you for the rest of the day, the rest of the week, and makes you realise our health and wellbeing is intricately connected with the health and wellbeing of the planet. Realising we’re just a part of this huge natural world is really important, and walking’s so good at that.
I love #walk1000miles. It sounds so big but it’s manageable. Walking two-and-three-quarter miles a day is something older people, younger people, people everywhere can do. You can do it alone or together – and there’s no rule preventing you stopping at a coffee shop and having a piece of cake halfway through. It’s fantastic for your physical health and mental health, it’s good for the NHS and it’s good for the planet.’
