Health Benefits of Walking
2006 American Cancer Society Physical Activity Guidelines
The American Cancer Society published its most recent recommendations for individual choices, including recommendations for physical activity. The ACS encourages everyone to adopt a physically active lifestyle. The recommendation for adults is to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, above usual activities, on 5 or more days of the week; 45 to 60 minutes of intentional physical activity are preferable.
American Cancer Society, 2006 Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines
Types of Walking
Strolling is the type of walking that people do most of the time. It is a comfortable pace and is easy to do because you can stroll in work clothes. Five+ minutes of strolling is better than being sedentary.
Examples would be when you are late for a meeting and you pick up your pace, or maybe you are trying to keep up with your three-year-old on his tricycle. In purposeful walking your breathing has changed and your heart rate increases. An advantage of purposeful walking is that it is tied to another activity and you don’t have to be wearing exercise clothes. Five+ minutes of purposeful walking can be counted in your 30+ minutes a day of physical activity.
When you are walking for fitness and using a pace that challenges both your heart and lungs. For most people fitness walking would be a 15 – 18 minute per mile pace. Because the pace is faster you need to be wearing walking shoes and clothing that is comfortable.
This type of walking is not for everyone, but if you are fit it is a good way to maintain or increase your fitness level. Power walkers would have a pace less than 15 minutes per mile and always wear the proper shoes and clothing.
- Walk tall with good posture, shoulders down, back relaxed and chest forward
- Tighten your abs and buttocks, bend your arms in slightly less than a 90 degree angle and cup your hands gently, swing your arms front to back (NOT SIDE TO SIDE) and don‘t swing your elbows higher than your sternum
- Concentrate on striking with the heel, rolling through the step and pushing off with your toes
- Resist the urge to make your steps longer – to go faster take shorter steps
- Breathe naturally
- Don’t carry hand weights (raises your blood pressure) or use ankle weights (can negatively affect your walking)
Walking Distances on our Campus
|Green staff elevators to Purple zone||191 ft||1/27 mile|
|Green staff elevators to Blue hallway to Tan zone||385 ft||1/14 mile|
|Green staff elevators to Garage 17||1546 ft||~1/3 mile|
|Faculty Center elevators to coffee bar||237 ft||1/22 mile|
|Bertner and Bates to MDA and Holcombe||1320 ft||¼ mile|
|Loop around Rotary House||1335 ft||¼ mile|
|Loop around Faculty Center||1398 ft||¼ mile|
|Faculty Center elevators to Café Anderson||1093 ft||~1/5 mile|
|Purple zone to Café Anderson||529 ft||~1/10 mile|
|Green zone to Café Anderson||686 ft||~1/7 mile|
|Radiation Treatment Center to Café Anderson||748 ft||1/7 mile|
|Yellow zone to Café Anderson||708 ft||1/7 mile|
|Tan zone to Café Anderson||773 ft||1/7 mile|
|Small loop (to Braeswood)||2526 ft||½ mile|
|Medium loop (around sidewalk of hospital)||3672 ft||~3/4 mile|
|Large loop (around hospital and along Holcombe)||3937 ft||¾ mile|
Super-sized loop (around hospital, along Holcombe, along Braeswood)
|5753 ft||1.08 miles|
*1 mile = 5280 feet
See a printable version (pdf) of more common paths walked at MD Anderson.
Resources for Employee Health & Well-being
Employee Accident Report (pdf)
FAQ: Work-Injury IMO Network (pdf)
FAQ: Work-Injury IMO Network (Bastrop and Smithville) (pdf)
Report needlesticks to 713-604-OUCH (6824)
Contact a wellness coach at
713-745-WELL (9355) or