Twenty minutes in the park: what a review says about moving in green spaces

Is it worth heading to a park even if you have no time for a big hike? Is twenty minutes among trees after lunch enough, or is it pointless? A 2025 review looked at exercise in urban green space, known as green exercise, and the mental health of adults. And the answer is encouraging for everyone who does not have an extra hour.

In brief

• Exercise in urban green space had a mild, reliable favourable effect on mental health (15 trials, 980 adults).
• Short and frequent worked best: sessions of up to 20 minutes, at least three times a week, a programme of under 12 weeks.
• A calm to brisker pace at which you can still talk is enough.
• For women the benefit was higher. The park does not have to be big.

What the review did

The authors searched five large databases and found 15 randomised trials with a total of 980 adults aged 18 and over. Everybody exercised in urban green space, that is parks and similar green areas in the city. The quality of the trials was assessed with the standard Cochrane tool. They wanted to know how exercise in green space affects mental health, and then whether it matters how long a programme lasts, how often people walk, how long one session is and how intense the exercise is.

What the review found

Exercise in urban green space had a mild, statistically significant favourable effect on mental health (standardised difference −0.40; interval −0.56 to −0.25). That the studies agreed with each other is also shown by the low heterogeneity, 33.9%. The largest effects were associated with:

• shorter programmes, up to 12 weeks,
• at least three visits a week,
• sessions of up to 20 minutes,
• low to moderate intensity, at most 3 METs,
• for women the benefits were higher.

MET is a unit that measures how demanding a movement is. One MET is rest while sitting, and three METs correspond to a calm to brisker walk. So not running and not sprinting, but walking at which you can still chat.

Short and frequent wins

The most interesting thing is what the review says about the manner: not long and exceptional, but short and often. Twenty minutes, three times a week, in green space and at a calm pace. The authors call it a model of “short duration, high frequency, moderate intensity”. For someone who has no time, that is good news: they do not need to find a big space in the calendar, a small but regular one is enough.

Three visits a week of twenty minutes make an hour a week altogether. That is less than one long walk, and yet the review found the largest effects in precisely such programmes.

How to read it

The studies did not deal specifically with Nordic Walking, and “urban green space” means parks, not wilderness. The authors write that larger and better-quality trials are needed to be certain about long-term effects. A trial that lasted up to twelve weeks cannot tell us what will be after a year. The numbers show that short and frequent works better than long and rare, and that is a useful signal, even if not a final verdict.

What it means

It is not “either an hour or nothing”. Twenty minutes in the nearest park, ideally several times a week, is according to this review a reasonable dose. And poles turn the walk into a whole-body workout, even though this particular study did not examine that effect. The park does not have to be big: the study speaks of urban green space in general, not of vast parks.

Try it as an experiment

Three days a week, twenty minutes, the nearest park or grassy area. You do not have to go anywhere. In a month you will know whether it does you good. Write down, say, just one sentence: how you felt before and after. In three weeks you will see a pattern, and that is more valuable to you than any study.

Do you have your own park, your own bench, your own twenty-minute route? Tell us in the forum where it is. For others it is inspiration for where to go.

Frequently asked questions

**Does it have to be a park, or is a green street enough?** The studies speak of urban green space in general. They do not say you must go to a vast park. A bit of greenery where you can walk in peace is enough.

**What if I only have ten minutes?** The review reports the largest effects for sessions of up to twenty minutes. Ten minutes several times a week is therefore a reasonable start, and better than waiting for an hour of free time that never comes.

**Is it better to walk alone or in a group?** The studies do not say. From what we know from other articles, a group helps persistence well, but you must choose what does you good.

**Will it help with stress?** The review covers mental health in general: depression, anxiety, stress. It showed a mild favourable effect, but no figure is given specifically for stress.

Text: Kompas.