If your excuse not to run is that you’ll run out of steam in 2 minutes, you’ll have to think again. “New runners are prone to go out too hard and too fast,” says Health’s Girls Gotta Move Running Club coach Jenny Hadfield, who directs Run Like a Girl clinics. “The key is to start slow and think long-term.”

With our Walk-to-Run plan, you’ll do a walk-run combo for 8 weeks, leading up to the day when you can comfortably run 5 miles without stopping. Whatever your goal—working with friends to get up to 10 miles a week or losing 10 pounds in 3 months—remember that walking is an important part of the running experience. It gives your body a chance to recuperate before you expend more energy. And, of course, it gives you more breath to chat and enjoy yourself.

What if there was something simple you could do every day that would burn calories, be good for your heart, and help you stay young. You’d do it, right? Well, that’s why researchers and doctors are so gung ho about walking, especially in light of new research that credits it for everything from cutting breast-cancer risks to helping you sleep.

1. It’s great for the heart
In a recent study conducted at Duke University Medical Center, researchers found that walking briskly for 30 minutes every day lowers your odds of developing metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors linked to higher risks of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Roughly 24 million women in the United States have metabolic syndrome. Don’t have time for a daily half-hour walk? Try multitasking: A British study found that active commuting (incorporating walking and cycling into your sedentary commute) is associated with an 11 percent reduction in heart-disease risk, especially among women. (For sneaky ways to work more walking into your life, see No Time to Walk? Try This.)