With CrossFit, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), sprinting, and power yoga all the rage, it’s hard to get your head around the fact that walking can be a great way to improve your overall health. Nowadays, walking just doesn’t get the respect it deserves.

According to Harvard Medical School, walking just 21 minutes a day can cut your risk of heart disease by 30%. What’s more, the American Heart Association claims that walking at least 30 minutes a day may reduce your risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, and type 2 diabetes, improve blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, lower the risk of obesity, enhance your mood, and reduce osteoporosis risk. For all of these reasons, walking has been called a superfood!

If that’s not enough to get you walking, think about how easy it is to lace up your shoes and get moving. It’s a super convenient form of physical activity and you can do it almost anywhere. In addition, walking has a much lower risk of injury than running (up to 5% for walking; up to 70% for running).

The faster, farther and more often you walk, the greater the health benefits. You earn extra credit for walking stairs, hills, or mountains!

Many of my nutrition clients have an “all or nothing” attitude when it comes to exercise. If they can’t squeeze in a CrossFit class then they won’t workout at all. The next time you think you don’t have time for a workout, remember the health benefits of a short 30-minute walk. A daily dose of this superfood can have a major positive impact on your well-being.

Until next time, make every bite count!