Forget the gym—this 30-minute walking workout will help you clock up 6,000 steps and boost your cardio

Woman wearing pink leggings and turquoise crop top doing a side lunge on a yellow exercise mag in a living room setting. .

It's no great secret that walking is good for us. It can boost our cardio fitness, improve our mood and keep our joints healthy. You don't need to hit 10,000 steps a day to reap the benefits of walking, either; recent research shows that walking as few as 3,867 steps daily can lower your mortality risk. A quick 30-minute walking workout can burn a surprising amount of calories too, if you're trying to lose weight.

Emma Simarro, founder of Building Body Confidence, is a big fan of walking—but she says you can get more from your stroll if you dial up the pace and add in some exercises.