Walking 6 miles a day: Weight loss, mental clarity, and more benefits of regular activity

Walking 6 miles a day is quite a significant physical activity. It equals approximately 12,000-15,000 steps and can take anywhere from one to two hours to complete, which means that it exceeds the baseline activity recommendations.

Although it definitely requires some effort, 6 miles is a good daily walking goal that can give you the following benefits:

• Improved cardiovascular fitness
• Reduced risk of diseases
• Blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol levels regulation
• Improved endurance
• Higher energy levels
• Improved mental health
• Lowered risk of dementia
• Improved sleep
• Better muscle, bone, and joint health
• Weight loss

On the other side, long-distance walking can also have some downsides, such as fatigue, blisters, and others, especially if you are new to it. Thus, it might be wiser to start with smaller goals and take it slowly.

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If you are hoping to lose weight and get toned, simply cutting down the amount of calories you consume with food won’t cut it. Regular physical activity is an essential element of weight loss that helps stimulate fat-burning, preserve muscle, and support your overall health. So whether you need to get on the move is out of question. Yet, the question is: Which kind of exercise is actually good for you?

As you should know, there are quite many options to consider, from strength training to pilates and yoga. Every kind of workout can bring unique benefits. However, the whole point of effective weight loss is not only to have one or a few full workouts a week, but to stay active every day. And that’s where low-impact exercises like walking work great.

Walking is simple, accessible, and brings plenty of benefits. To feel them, you need to set a specific daily walking goal and build consistent activity. In this guide, we’ll tell you about one of the possible goals – walking 6 miles a day, and the benefits it can give you.

Benefits of Walking 6 Miles a Day

Walking every day has been shown to bring many benefits. According to the American Heart Association, walking for only 150 minutes a week (considering that it’s indeed an everyday activity) can help you:

• Boost cardiovascular fitness.
• Reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even cancer.
• Regulate blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol levels.
• Improve endurance.
• Get higher energy levels.
• Support mental clarity, mood, and overall well-being.
• Mitigate the risk of dementia.
• Improve sleep.
• Enhance muscle, bone, and joint strength.

Apart from clear health benefits, walking 6 miles a day, of course, can help you lose weight. It’s a great type of aerobic activity that burns fat and engages a large number of muscle groups. At the same time, it’s rather low-impact, which makes it suitable for everyone, regardless of their fitness level. 

Possible Downsides of Walking 6 Miles a Day

Although the benefits of walking are confirmed by multiple studies, many people still have concerns about it. So, is walking 6 miles a day good for everyone, or not?

Generally, it’s considered healthy and safe for most people. However, it’s important to remember that a 6-mile walk greatly exceeds the baseline activity recommendations. That is, hitting that goal can be somewhat hard for people who are new to long-distance walking.

If that’s you, there are several potential side effects you may experience:

• Fatigue
• Joint strain
• Persistent muscle soreness
• Lower back pain
• Blisters
• Irritability
• Poor immunity, etc.

These are the possible physical and mental side effects of overtraining. They can appear when you rush into exercise, without proper preparation, or push yourself to the limits. In order to prevent them, consider starting with smaller goals, such as walking 4 miles a day (or less). Once you start and build a sustainable habit, you can gradually increase the load.

How Many Steps Is 6 Miles?

There are varying opinions on whether it’s best to focus on the distance of walking or the number of steps. For years, there has been an unspoken rule of taking 10,000 steps a day. And if you are also an adept of this rule, chances are that you want to know how many steps you can take if you walk for 6 miles.

According to statistics, an adult person takes approximately 2,000-2,500 steps per mile. If we consider this data, we can say that walking 6 miles a day equals 12,000-15,000 steps. However, the number of steps you will take depends on numerous factors. So it’s best to count steps using wearable devices if you want to have more accurate information.

How Long Does It Take to Walk 6 Miles?

Okay, the benefits and other specs are clear. But is 6 miles a long walk?

The answer is “yes.” 6 miles is quite a significant distance that takes time to walk. According to general data, you can walk it in 1-2 hours, depending on how fast you walk. This may sound like quite a commitment. And it really is. This amount of daily exercise exceeds the general recommendations. But that’s exactly what makes it so effective.

Walking 6 Miles a Day for a Month Results

If you consider walking 6 miles a day to burn fat and get toned, chances are that you want to know which results you can achieve, let’s say, in a month. The good news is that this kind of exercise can be incredibly effective. 

An adult can burn from 319 to 957 calories during a 6-mile walk. The exact amount of calories burned depends on your body mass index, pace, terrain, and other factors.

Now, let’s look at this from the weight loss perspective. According to experts, one pound of body fat contains between 3,436 and 3,752 calories. This is the number of calories you need to burn to lose one pound of fat. If you divide this by 7 days of the week, you’ll see that you need to burn roughly 500 calories a day. This doesn't necessarily mean burning the entire amount through exercise. Your calorie deficit also counts. So, generally speaking, it’s possible to drop 3-4 pounds of fat in a month if you walk for 6 miles every day and stick to your deficit.

How to Burn More Calories While Walking?

When setting off on this journey, you have to remember that walking 6 miles a day weight loss results depend on a wealth of factors. Your diet, age, sleep patterns, stress levels, current weight, and many other things affect how many calories you burn, and how quickly you can achieve the desired result.

The good news? There are some ways to burn more calories per walk to slightly stimulate the progress. Here are the tips to use:

• Speed up to increase your heart rate and burn calories faster.
• Switch your walking space from very fast to moderate in equal intervals (for better metabolism and cardiovascular endurance).
• Wear additional weight to create resistance.
• Walk up the hill to burn more calories thanks to an incline.
• Walk on different terrain types (softer surfaces like sand usually burn more calories).

Small hacks like these can help you maximize the impact of every workout and get better and faster results. But, most importantly, you should strive for consistency. Consequent effort pays off in the long term better than sudden and rare bursts of effort. So make walking your habit, combine it with a healthy diet, and you will reach your goal!

Important: While it’s absolutely normal to wish to lose weight quickly, it’s crucial to remember about your health and safety in the process. Generally, dropping 1-2 pounds a week is considered optimal and healthy. Everything that goes beyond that is considered an overly rapid weight loss, which can lead to metabolic slowdown, gallstones, nutritional deficiencies, severe fatigue, hair loss, and other problems. So don’t try to push yourself to the limits with severe calorie restrictions (such as eating 600 calories a day) or exhaustive exercises. Take it slow to get a good, sustainable result.

FAQ

Is walking 6 miles a day healthy?

Yes. Walking 6 miles a day is an excellent amount of low-impact exercise that will help you improve cardiovascular fitness, manage weight, and gain a range of other health benefits. It’s also very beneficial for mental clarity and mood regulation. And this amount of exercise exceeds the baseline weekly recommendation, which makes it effective for increasing aerobic capacity and strengthening your muscles.

What are the possible downsides of walking 6 miles a day?

Walking is generally considered safe and beneficial for most people. However, it might have a few downsides, especially for people who are new to distance walking. In particular, you may experience fatigue, joint strain, persistent muscle soreness, lower back pain, blisters, and other negative effects. If you face any of these, it can be wise to change your gear and provide your body with more time to recover. Listen to your body and take it slow to prevent adverse effects.

Is walking 6 miles a day too much?

Generally, it’s not too much. But only if you are prepared for it. People who have low endurance and fitness levels may find it hard to walk for 6 miles every day from the start. In this case, it’s better to start slowly, for example, by walking 1 mile a day first, and then gradually increase the load as you build endurance.

Conclusion

Whether you want to enhance your health and mental well-being or are just looking to lose weight, walking 6 miles a day is a great type of physical activity to achieve your goals. It’s a low-impact, but rather high-volume type of activity known for multiple benefits.

After reading this guide, you should have answers to all the popular questions about long-distance walking. Use this information to set a daily activity goal that works best for you and implement the tips we shared here to maximize the outcomes!

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