What’s not to like about walking? It’s a gentle, low-impact, aerobic exercise that’s easy, free, and available to everyone with no special equipment needed to perform it. Here are just a few of the ways that walking benefits you (in any lifestyle):
1. Walking
improves circulation: Reduce your risk of heart
disease and stroke by walking regularly. It lowers levels of bad cholesterol
while increasing levels of good cholesterol. The Stroke Association says that a
brisk thirty minute walk every day helps to prevent and control the high blood
pressure that causes strokes, reducing the risk by up to twenty-seven percent. Walking helps to lower blood pressure, and improve
heart health.
2. Walking lightens your mood: Walking releases natural pain killing
endorphins to the body (one of the emotional benefits of exercise). Studies
show that a brisk walk is just as effective as antidepressants in mild to
moderate cases of depression. So for positive mental health, walking’s an
absolute must.
Going for a walk is a
zero-calorie strategy with the same benefits. Regular walking actually modifies
your nervous system so much that you'll experience a decrease in anger and
hostility.
When you make your
walks social with a partner, a neighbor, or a good friend, this interaction
helps you feel connected with others Walking outdoors exposes you to natural
sunlight, which can help stave off Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which makes
it a potential antidote for the winter blues.
“A
vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy
adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. “ (Paul Dudley White)
3.
Walking can lead to
weight loss: You’ll burn around 150
calories at a speed of 4mph Work that short walk into your daily routine and
you’ll shed the pounds in no time.
As you continue to
walk, you may notice your pants begin to fit more loosely around your
midsection, even if the number on the scale isn't moving much. That's because
regular walking can help improve your body's response to insulin, which can
help reduce belly fat.
4. Walking improves sleep: Women, ages fifty to seventy-five, who took one-hour morning
walks, were more likely to relieve insomnia than women who didn’t walk. Walking
may help you fall
asleep faster or sleep more soundly. A morning walk outdoors
may be particularly beneficial since exposure to daylight can help you stay in
tune with your natural circadian rhythms.
5.
Walking supports your
joints: The majority of
joint cartilage has no direct blood supply. It gets its nutrition from joint
fluid that circulates as we move. Impact that comes from movement or
compression (such as walking) squishes the cartilage, which brings oxygen and
nutrients into the area.
If you don’t walk, joints are deprived of life-giving fluid,
which speeds deterioration. Walking most days of the week may help lessen pain and reduce
symptoms for arthritis and fibromyalgia. Walking protects the joints (especially
the knees and hips) which are most susceptible to osteoarthritis by lubricating
them and strengthening the muscles that support them.
6. Walking helps you do more for longer: Aerobic walking and resistance exercise
programs may reduce the incidence of disability in the activities of daily
living of people who are older than sixty-five and have symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA).
Going for regular walks is one of the best
and easiest things you can do for your health. You’ll get more done with
more energy. It boosts circulation and
increases oxygen supply to every cell in your body, which helps you to feel
more alert and alive. Walking is the perfect way to enjoy the outdoors while
getting your vitamin D fix.
7.
Walking minimizes your risk of diabetes: Walking can help improve your blood
glucose levels at any time of the day (or night), but more right after a meal. A
regular walking habit decreases the risk of type two diabetes by around 60
percent. You’re 20 percent less likely to develop cancer of the colon or womb
with walking. For diabetics, a fifteen minute
walk can curb cravings for chocolate (and sugary snacks), and even reduce the
amount of chocolate you eat in stressful situations.
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day, I
walk myself into a state of well-being, and walk away from every illness. I
have walked myself into my best thoughts… I know of no thought so burdensome
that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still (and the more one sits
still) the closer one comes to feeling ill. Thus if one just keeps on walking,
everything will be all right.” (Søren
Kierkegaard)
8. Walking will tone your legs: Walking prevents
varicose veins from developing. Give definition to calves, quads, hamstrings,
and gluteus muscles (butt) with a regular walk. Pay attention to your posture,
and you’ll also tone your abdominal
muscles,
waist, and even arm muscles (if you pump them
as you walk). This increases your range of motion, shifting the pressure and
weight from your joints and muscles, which are meant to handle weight (helping
to lessen arthritis pain)
9. Walking reduces the risk of tripping and falling: Stepping
out on a regular basis could help prevent the trips and falls that can occur as
we age. Balance loss and weak muscles in the shins can cause a shuffling gait
that can put you at a higher risk of tripping or falling. Regular walks can help
improve balance by strengthening the lower body. Walking with an exaggerated
heel-to-toe action can help strengthen these muscles even more by emphasizing
the movement of the foot toward the shins.
10.
Walking
strengthens your memory: Walking regularly
appears to help specifically bolster the hippocampus, the part of the brain
involved in verbal memory and learning. Walking for exercise may become
increasingly important as we age, and our risk for dementia and other brain
disorders increases. It helps reverse the effects of aging.
Older people who walk
six miles or more per week are more likely to avoid brain shrinkage and
preserve memory as the years pass. Walking backward helped subjects literally
think faster on their feet. Incorporating specific mind-enhancing moves into your
workout (such as moving in certain patterns with coordinated arm movements) can
also boost the brain benefits of walking.
No comments:
Post a Comment