If you're looking for a workout to help you lose a few pounds, your first instinct might be to hit the gym.
But racking up the recommended 150 minutes of exercise a week that way is hard, especially when you’re squeezing it in around work, kids, a social life, and – let’s be real – doomscrolling on your phone while half-watching Netflix. You’re setting yourself up to fail.
So, what’s the alternative? Well, science suggests there are surprising benefits to doing something that’s a little less arduous but fits in with your busy lifestyle. The answer: walking.
“If you walk to and from the train station and maybe take the dog for a walk, or perhaps at the weekend do a slightly longer walk, 150 minutes is not that unachievable. It really isn’t,” says physical activity expert Prof Marie Murphy from The University of Edinburgh.
Walking, as Murphy describes it, is the ‘loose change’ of exercises – every extra bit you do, just within your daily routine, adds up like coins filling a jar.
