Walking is good for you. And there are very few people who disagree with that assessment. 

Doctors, therapists, coaches, governments all encourage you to walk. 

But it’s not enough. Far from it. Walking is a low intensity, low impact activity that has many benefits that includes cognitive ones. 

And 4000-5000 steps a day is a terrific way to keep your heart rate buzzing and burn some energy. 

But is it enough?

Enough for what is the question. 

Enough to retain muscle around every major joint group

Enough to ensure every joint can be as mobile as possible. 

Enough stimulus for your heart to handle the variety of stressors you will throw at it. 

Walking will not cut it. Simply because it does not provide every joint group in your body enough work to stay mobile and strong. 

Solely walking for health, quality of life and longevity is akin to depending on only one ingredient for all your nourishment. You know it’s not going to cut. 

Your activity diet has to be diverse. Push ups, hanging, carrying things, squatting deep, rounding your back to pick things up, rotating your hips. The list is long. And it takes work. 

While walking is terrific, it helps to think about adding a few more capacities for quality of life: 

There is a subjective component to this. But the constraints we seek to eliminate are clear. All joints working well, staying robust to produce force, being stable and being resilient. Now ask yourself can walking alone address all those things?