Walking

Walking is the act of moving forward by stepping with alternating legs. The time when one foot is on the ground supporting the body (stance phase) accounts for about 60% of a gait cycle, while the time when that foot moves forward through the air (swing phase) accounts for about 40%. During this cycle, the ankle, knee, and hip bend and straighten in a coordinated sequence to generate forward propulsion.

Walking is one of the easiest exercises to incorporate into daily life. It requires no special equipment, its intensity can easily be adjusted to suit your body, and the risk of injury is relatively low. Many studies report favorable associations between regular walking and cardiovascular and metabolic health measures, such as blood glucose. The World Health Organization recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, and brisk walking is a typical way to do this.

Some people worry that walking will wear out their knees. However, an analysis involving more than 120,000 people found that recreational runners and walkers actually had lower rates of knee and hip arthritis than people who were sedentary. Moderate movement is a reliable ally for your joints. Walking has also been reported to offer benefits similar to those of other forms of exercise for chronic lower back discomfort.

Daily step count is one of the most common measures of activity levels. Analyses pooling large studies show a relatively consistent tendency for higher step counts to be associated with a lower risk of death. However, the benefits do not keep increasing indefinitely as step counts rise; beyond a certain point, the gains become more gradual.

The idea of “10,000 steps a day” is said to have spread through pedometer marketing in Japan in the 1960s. A 2025 analysis published in The Lancet Public Health (57 studies) found that, compared with people walking 2,000 steps a day, those walking about 7,000 steps had a 47% lower risk of death from any cause, a 25% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and a 28% lower risk of falls. For several health measures, gains appeared to become more gradual around 5,000–7,000 steps. These are associations from observational studies. Even if you do not reach 10,000 steps, walking a little more than you do now is still meaningful.

Even with the same step count, walking speed and cadence (steps per minute) change the stimulus your body receives. Try mixing days of longer, slower walks with days of brisk walking, even if only for a short time. Apart from step count, sedentary behavior—the total amount of time you spend sitting—also affects how you feel throughout the day. Getting up to walk once an hour can be as helpful as your step count.

When you are standing, blood and lymph in your legs have to move against gravity toward your heart. The pressure generated by the heart alone is not enough, so the legs have their own pump. Closely spaced valves inside the veins open only upward, preventing blood from flowing backward. With each step, the calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) contract, compressing the surrounding veins and pushing blood upward. This calf muscle pump is why the calves are called the “second heart.” You can read more about this flow in Venous circulation.

Lymph flows in a similar way. Lymph in the legs moves upward through the compressive force of muscle contractions and contractions of the lymphatic vessels themselves. Rhythmic walking is an easy way to activate both pumps together.

When you stand or sit for a long time, the calf pump rests and blood pools lower down. By evening, your feet and ankles may swell, or your legs may feel heavy. Walking frequently, even for short periods, or moving your ankles up and down can help ease this heaviness. Getting off public transport one stop early on your way home and walking, or getting up during work to fetch a glass of water, are options. For a fuller explanation, see Dependent edema.

Walking is not a movement produced by a single ankle or muscle. It is a whole-body movement in which the feet, knees, hips, trunk, and ground work together with coordinated timing. A few terms are useful when describing how someone walks.

• Kinematics and kinetics — Kinematics deals with observable movement, such as position, angle, and speed, while kinetics deals with the forces and torques that produce that movement.
• Gait cycle — The gait cycle is a framework that divides the time from one foot contacting the ground until that same foot contacts it again into sequential phases. During stance, the foot accepts body weight as the body moves over it. Toward the end, the heel rises and the toes push against the ground before leaving it, ending that foot’s stance phase.
• Speed and rhythm — Walking speed, the time a foot stays on the ground during a step, cadence, and the time both feet are on the ground are related, but they are not the same measure. They vary with the surface, footwear, slope, and fatigue, so avoid directly comparing measurements taken under different conditions.

The foot is where bones, joints, ligaments, and muscles work together to meet the ground. The subtalar joint below the ankle and the joints in the forefoot help the foot adapt to uneven ground. The foot arch and intrinsic foot muscles absorb impact on contact and provide spring when pushing off. Even the same foot interacts with the ground differently depending on footwear, surface, and speed. Walking styles also vary from person to person, including whether the heel or forefoot contacts the ground first, so there is no single correct walking form for everyone.

Limping is an everyday term for walking in which the time spent on each leg, the amount of weight placed on it, or step length appears different between sides. In gait assessment, this may also be called “asymmetric gait” or a “limp.” Walking to avoid pain is called “antalgic gait.” See Antalgic gait for more information.

Putting less weight on the painful side and lifting that foot sooner is a natural way for the body to protect a painful area. Joint range of motion, how muscles generate force, sensation, fatigue, footwear, and ground conditions all influence walking, so even the same person’s gait varies slightly from day to day. Step length and arm swing do not have to be perfectly identical on both sides; some differences are present in healthy walking, too. If a side-to-side difference is new or noticeably greater than usual, note which side feels uncomfortable and when it began.

“My ___ hurts when I walk” is not a diagnosis, but an everyday description of when and where something feels uncomfortable. It identifies the timing but does not narrow down the cause, so it helps to consider the location, when it started, and any accompanying sensations separately.

Knee pain when walking

Walking places as much load on the knees as going up and down stairs. However, greater load does not necessarily mean greater pain; pain is understood as the combined result of the knee’s condition and how you are feeling overall. Pain at the front of the knee may be discussed in relation to patellofemoral pain syndrome, pain on the outside in relation to outer knee pain, and existing arthritis in relation to knee osteoarthritis. Walk slowly on level ground, and gradually increase walking uphill and using stairs.

Lower back pain when walking

People with chronic lower back discomfort have been reported to walk somewhat more slowly and with shorter steps on average than people without it. Some reviews also suggest that jobs involving standing or walking cannot readily be considered a cause of lower back pain. A pattern of tingling and heaviness in the legs that improves when sitting down to rest is discussed separately under Neurogenic claudication and Lumbar spinal stenosis. Walking at a comfortable pace on level ground and noting when your lower back becomes uncomfortable can be helpful.

Ankle pain when walking

People who have repeatedly sprained their ankles have been reported to show a tendency for the ankle to tilt inward when walking. Ankle sprain, chronic ankle instability, and ankle stiffness may be discussed depending on the location and circumstances, but pain when walking alone cannot tell you the condition of the ligaments. Practicing standing on one leg can help.

Pain in the sole of the foot when walking

The relationship between prolonged standing and walking and plantar fasciitis has been studied, but there is not yet enough evidence for a firm conclusion. A typical pattern is a stabbing pain on the inner side of the heel with the first steps after getting up in the morning. Its timing differs from pain that appears after a long walk. Many people find cushioned shoes and stretches for the calves and soles of the feet comfortable.

Pelvic pain when walking

“Pelvis” is often used broadly to refer to the hip joint, buttock, groin, or area below the lower back, making it difficult to pinpoint a single location. People with hip pain have been reported to walk more slowly and show greater side-to-side differences, but these findings come from comparisons involving people who already have pain. Hip osteoarthritis, femoroacetabular impingement, greater trochanteric pain syndrome, and the sacroiliac joint each involve different locations and circumstances of discomfort.

• Start with 10 minutes. As you become accustomed to it, add a few minutes each week and work toward 30 minutes.
• Use conversation to gauge intensity. Moderate intensity means you are slightly out of breath but can still carry on a conversation. Brisk walking is generally described as a rhythm of around 100 steps per minute.
• Look ahead and relax your shoulders. Let your arms swing naturally, and try letting your foot roll from the heel onto the whole sole as it meets the ground.
• Check your shoes. Choose shoes that fit, have cushioning, and do not have badly worn soles.
• Mix in uphill and downhill walking. This is an easy way to increase intensity. Downhill walking places stress on the knees, so take it slowly.
• It is fine to split up your walks. Three walks of 10 minutes each are meaningful, too.
• On painful days, do less, but do not stop. Keep moving while shortening the distance or switching to level ground.

It is worth telling a professional if, when walking, just one leg suddenly becomes swollen and painful or turns red; if you experience chest tightness or severe breathlessness while walking; if pain persists even at rest or occurs at night; or if your leg suddenly loses strength or numbness and tingling worsen. Some swelling in both feet in the evening after prolonged standing is common, but severe swelling on only one side is a different matter and is better assessed first.