By Chloe Gray, senior writer for stylist.co.uk’s fitness brand Strong Women.

Walking does great things for your mental health and cardiovascular fitness, but did you know that a good walk can also help you build the muscles in your legs and abs?

When you want to give your muscles a good workout, chances are you’ll reach for a dumbbell or work up a sweat with your favorite session in the gym. But, as it turns out, one of our favorite day-to-day activities is often overlooked as a muscle building exercise: walking.

That explains why you get stiff legs after a long hike or busy day on your feet. While walking is rightly lauded as a form of cardio exercise and its benefits for your heart health and mindset are widely understood, a good, long walk is also a great way to work your leg muscles.

“Walking is actually a great work out for your legs,” says Sally Davies, senior physiotherapist from the musculoskeletal therapies team at Bupa clinics, explaining that as we step, we engage the quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes and abdominal muscles. “All the muscles in the leg work together to provide stability, support and control to the body whilst walking, these movements help to strengthen and condition the leg muscles.”

How to Engage Muscles During Walking

Strolling along the pavement is one thing, but if you’re looking to really use walking as a key form of exercise, there are some important things to think about.

Firstly, where are you walking? While the treadmill might be convenient in rainy weather, the flat and smooth grounding won’t be the best way to work your muscles.

“Alternating your route between mixed terrains, flat terrains and hill walking – as well as your speed – is the optimum way to help you work all muscles during your walks,” says Sally.

Ultimately, if building stronger leg muscles is your goal, compound lifts and weight-bearing exercise are excellent things to focus on. But it’s important to know how activities such as walking impacts your body and how you can change it up to reap even more benefits for your muscles. Now, who’s off to climb some hills?

This post originally appeared on Stylist and was published May 4, 2021.