Walking 12 miles a day: A good way to stay fit or too much exercise?

For an average adult, a 12-mile walk equals 24,000-30,000 steps. This is 2 to 3 times higher than general physical activity recommendations for adults. And it requires a significant time commitment. You can expect to cover 12 miles in about 2-4 hours, depending on your pace. So it’s not an exercise for a busy schedule.

In the long run, walking 12 miles a day can have a positive effect on:

• Weight loss
• Cardiovascular fitness
• Muscle, bone, and joint health
• Mental well-being
• Longevity

However, it’s also a very high-volume exercise. This means that it can also have certain side effects, such as overtraining syndrome or overuse injuries. Hence, it’s not recommended for unprepared individuals.

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An adult needs to get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity. This amount of exercise is necessary for basic fitness and health. And 20-30 minutes of daily walking can be a great way to meet this recommendation. But what if you are striving to build greater endurance and lose weight? Then, you might be looking at more complex goals, such as hitting 12 miles a day.

Walking 12 miles a day is a high-volume aerobic activity that’s associated with great endurance and longevity. For some people, it can be a great way to maintain their fitness and strengthen their heart health. Yet, it’s also a significant strain on your body.

So, is walking 12 miles a day good? Or is it too much? In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of walking 12 miles a day. We’ll also look at how many steps and time such a walk can take, and give you some practical tips on how to get started.

Benefits of Walking 12 Miles a Day

Walking is a universal and low-impact activity that’s easy to get started with and sustain as a habit. Due to these reasons, many people choose it to be their core daily activity for weight loss and health. And this can have numerous benefits:

• Weight loss
• Cardiovascular fitness
• Muscle, bone, and joint health
• Mental well-being
• Increased endurance, etc.

According to Harvard Medical School, there are some lesser-known benefits too. Studies show that (if done daily) walking can:

• Neutralize the impact of weight-promoting genes. That is, it can help you lose weight and sustain it in the long run.
• Reduction in sugar cravings.
• Decreased risk of breast cancer (along with several other diseases).
• Joint pain relief.
• Overall better immunity.

It’s important to note that all the aforementioned benefits come from general walking itself. That is, you don’t necessarily have to walk for 12 miles to lose weight and build up endurance. However, an increased amount of walking is linked with another possible benefit – longevity. According to studies, just 2 hours of everyday walking can add up to 11 years to your lifespan.

Is Walking 12 Miles a Day Good for Everyone?

Okay, the benefits are clear. But is walking 12 miles a day healthy? For most people, the answer would likely be “no.” Despite all the potential benefits of long-distance walking, it’s important to understand that 12 miles is a lot. For not very active or fit people, more benefits can be obtained from smaller distances, such as 4 miles or 6 miles.

Then, who is it for? Walking 12 miles a day can work well for:

• People with very high daily activity and fitness levels.
• Athletes looking to increase endurance.
• Hiking enthusiasts.
• People looking to lose weight and get fit, but only under two conditions: 1) they get there gradually, and 2) they have significant free time.

How Many Steps Is 12 Miles?

If you don’t want to focus solely on the distance of your walks, you are probably wondering how many steps is 12 miles. The first thing you should know regarding this question is that every person’s steps are different. Depending on your height and weight, you may have a different stride length, which directly impacts the number of steps. The pace and terrain you choose for walking also impact this. For example, some terrain types, such as soft sand or hilly areas, may take more steps to cover the same distance.

Yet, according to a general rule of thumb, an average adult takes 2,000-2,500 steps per mile. Based on this data, you can expect to take anywhere between 24,000 and 30,000 steps during a 12-mile walk.

If you want to know the exact number of steps, consider using a specialized fitness app and a wearable device like a smartwatch. This will give you insights into many interesting statistics about your walks, including the distance, number of steps, pace, heart rate, and more.

Is 12 Miles a Long Walk?

It certainly is. As you already know, 12 miles equals 24,000 and 30,000 steps. This is two to three times more than the general recommendation for walking for weight loss (10,000 steps). Hence, you can easily guess that it’s quite a lot of walking.

So, how long does it take to walk 12 miles? It depends. Your individual parameters, as well as the pace of walking, all affect the time you will need to cover a 12-mile distance. On average it can take:

• 2 hours and 12 minutes (fast walk)
• 3 hours (moderate walk)
• 4 hours (easy walk)

This brings us to another big downside of walking 12 miles a day – it takes plenty of time, and not everyone might be able to fit this much exercise into their schedule. If this doesn’t scare you off, here are a few simple tips to integrate daily 12-mile walks into your daily life:

• Wake up earlier to have more time for all your daily activities.
• Break down a 12-mile walk into several shorter walks.
• Consider walking to work or school.
• Combine walking with other chores, for example, going grocery shopping or meeting friends.
• Block this time – consider your daily walk as a non-negotiable exercise and plan every day considering it.
• Consider buying a treadmill to hit your daily distance goal from the comfort of your home.

FAQ

How many calories do you burn walking 12 miles a day?

Walking 12 miles a day can burn from 650 to 1,000+ calories. Energy expenditure depends a lot on your initial weight and the intensity of exercise. For example, walking at a faster pace, using intervals, or walking up a hill will burn more calories than a relaxed walk. One way or another, it’s quite a high-volume aerobic exercise, which makes walking 12 miles a day weight loss rather effective. If you look up walking 12 miles a day for a month results on the web, you can learn that some people lose 5-10 lbs with its help, which is an impressive result.

Do you need more protein when walking long distances daily?

Yes. Your muscles and other tissues need sufficient protein to recover. According to studies, regular physical activity (including long-distance walking) significantly increases one's daily protein needs. It can reach 1.6 to 2.0 g per kg of body weight. Thus, you might need to experiment with high-protein recipes to ensure your body receives it in sufficient amounts.

What are the signs you’re walking too much?

It’s clear that walking 12 miles a day is a lot. This amount of daily activity might be too much for some people. To tell if it’s too much for you, watch out for overuse injuries like blisters, shin splints, and other problems in your feet and ankles, in particular. Also, pay attention to common overtraining symptoms, such as severe fatigue, muscle stiffness, persistent soreness, and others. If you notice any severe and persistent symptoms, don’t push yourself to the limit and allow enough time for rest and recovery instead.

Conclusion

Walking 12 miles a day is about 24,000-30,000 steps and 2-4 hours of your time. This kind of high-volume aerobic activity can be highly effective for cardiovascular activity, endurance building, and weight loss. It engages many muscles and can burn 1,000+ calories, which is why many people strive for it. Yet, as you now know, it has both benefits and significant downsides.

So, is walking 12 miles a day too much? Although it can bring you many benefits in the long run, for many people who don’t lead a highly active lifestyle or prepare for sports events, such as marathons, covering such a long distance daily is indeed too much. Without due preparation, this can lead to overtraining and injuries, causing problems rather than bringing benefits. Still, if you are determined to achieve this goal, whether for weight loss or health reasons, you can do it. It’s just important that you reach it gradually, slowly increasing the distance as your strength and endurance grow.

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