The internet loves to coin a trendy new fitness challenge—12-3-30, 75 Hard, 3-2-1, the list goes on. And while some workout methods are more fluff than facts, others are rooted in real exercise science—and even endorsed by your favorite personal trainers. Introducing the 6-6-6 walking challenge, the latest hot-button fitness trend taking over your feeds and footpaths.
Finally, a Fitness Trend Worth Trying: Meet the 6-6-6 Walking Challenge
A better way to get your steps in
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Published Jan 12, 2026
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Meet the Expert
Haley Dyes is a certified personal trainer and head coach at MyBodyTutor who brings a compassionate approach to health and wellness, shaped by her own journey. With over a decade at MyBodyTutor, Dyes works alongside her clients daily, helping them build a healthier relationship with diet and exercise.
What Is the 6-6-6 Walking Challenge?
The 6-6-6 walking challenge involves steady-state walking for 60 minutes, six days a week, with a 6-minute warm-up and a 6-minute cool-down (try saying that five six times fast). Some people also like to complete the challenge at either 6 a.m. or 6 p.m.—though experts advise that the time of day is less important than maintaining the overall consistency. Hitting viral status on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, the 6-6-6 walking challenge is best known for its potential weight loss benefits, but experienced trainers—like Haley Dyes of MyBodyTutor—also rave that it’s the “perfect blueprint for turning casual walkers into confident runners.”
What Are the Benefits of the 6-6-6 Walking Challenge?
Cheeky name aside, the 6-6-6 walking challenge has the potential to boast some pretty impressive health benefits, including weight loss, improved heart health, improved bone density and mood stabilization. "Walking 60 minutes daily can support significant weight loss when done consistently,” Dyes explains. “Research shows that six months or more of daily brisk walking can help people lose approximately 10 percent of their starting body weight. What makes this [workout] particularly sustainable is that these results come from moderate-intensity exercise that most people can maintain long term, unlike more intense workouts that often lead to burnout.”
When it comes to cardiovascular health, “people who walk enough to meet physical activity guidelines”—proposed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention—“show a 30 percent lower risk of heart attacks or strokes compared to those who don't walk regularly,” as evidenced by this study published in 2002 by The New England Journal of Medicine. “The benefits scale progressively; every 1,000 daily steps lowers systolic blood pressure by 0.45 points, while every 500 additional steps reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke or heart failure by 14 percent, particularly in older adults,” making walking one of the most accessible preventive measures for cardiovascular disease.
The mental health benefits are equally compelling. “Walking for an hour daily reduces depression risk by 26 percent,” Dyes says. “Beyond preventing depression, walking actively reduces cortisol, the body's primary stress hormone, helping you feel less stressed and more relaxed throughout the day.”
Consistent walking can also help slow bone density loss, which is critical for preventing osteoporosis. The one limitation of walking is muscle mass. “Aerobic exercise like walking preserves, but does not increase, skeletal muscle mass. The picture varies somewhat by intensity. Fast walking can maintain muscle and even produce slight increases in older adults,” but for overall muscle building, resistance training is a better fit.
Why Trainers Love It
On top of the numerous health benefits associated with walking, trainers love that the 6-6-6 walking challenge is accessible to all fitness levels. “6-6-6 builds the aerobic foundation that you need to make [other, more intense exercise modalities] possible, providing a more realistic approach to a routine that you can stick to,” Dyes says. By promoting consistency over intensity with a structured pace progression, “6-6-6 [inadvertently] solves the biggest problem I deal with: getting people comfortable with sustained cardiovascular movement before we progress to real running or intense cardio.” In a nutshell, the 6-6-6 walking challenge meets people where they’re at physically and provides them with the foundation they need to excel at other fitness modalities.
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How to Progress from Walking to Running
Though beloved by trainers, Dyes wants people to view the 6-6-6 walking challenge as a launching pad—not the destination. "After four to six weeks of consistency, your body is ready for more challenges.” According to Dyes, here are four signs your body might be ready to progress from 6-6-6 walking to a more intense running program:
- You can complete the full 72 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down) without feeling exhausted.
- Your heart rate recovers to normal within five to 10 minutes after completing the full workout.
- You can hold a conversation during the brisk walking portions of the workout.
- You enjoy and look forward to your daily walks (rather than dreading them).
3 Mistakes to Avoid When Transitioning from Walking to Running
Before you sign up for your first marathon, here are three common mistakes that could be sabotaging your running potential, according to Dyes:
- Skipping the Foundation: “Many people want to jump into running after two weeks because they feel good, but feeling good indicates the program is working and shouldn't be abandoned early. Cardiovascular and muscular adaptations require six to eight weeks to solidify.”
- Adding Too Many Variables: “Starting [a new workout routine], joining a gym and changing diet simultaneously often leads to overwhelm and abandonment. Mastering 6-6-6 first, then adding one new element at a time, prevents people from trying to transform overnight and quitting everything.”
- Ignoring Recovery Signs: “Consistent exhaustion after 6-6-6 indicates excessive intensity. The routine should feel challenging but sustainable. Persistent fatigue, joint pain or dreading the walks signals the need to dial back intensity.”
The Bottom Line
If you’re new to exercising or are looking for something to revive your routine, the 6-6-6 walking challenge is a great place to start: It’s accessible, sustainable and promotes consistency over intensity to help cultivate a workout regimen that’s progressive and realistic. On top of the numerous health benefits, trainers also love that this challenge can help lay the foundation for future fitness goals to come: “6-6-6 is essentially pre-training for the training, as it's the missing piece that most cardio programs skip,” Dyes explains. “If you've tried and failed at running programs before, give yourself permission to walk before you run. Everything else will follow.”
