Though walking might sound like one of the most common and basic things people, health instructors, and doctors advise for a healthy lifestyle, it really is an absolutely fantastic way to improve and maintain your health.
You can start with just 5 minutes a day and eventually go up to 30 minutes per day and it can be increased to 60 minutes a day for added health benefits. It is an ideal exercise for all age groups. Walking is also known as the wonder drug and it is an age-old prescription that doctors gave to help with better health.
Benefits of Walking
The Duke university medical center and a research study by Princeton University found that a brisk walk anywhere from 30 minutes to 60 minutes a day or even a jog is equally effective as an anti-depression medication in providing comfort from depression in people above the age of 30.
Walking promotes the reorganization of neurons in the brain thus relieving stress and anxiety.
It has been found in other studies that older women who walk regularly were less likely to have developed memory loss as compared to those women who did not walk as much. Walking also increases mental functions and improves blood flow to the brain causing the release of endorphins which also help relax your muscles.
For those suffering from Insomnia, walking has been found to be a remedy as it causes the release of a hormone called cortisol which helps you sleep better. It has other additional benefits like improving your mood if you can manage to walk for some time during your work hours and helps you focus and outperform yourself.
It improves memory which is truly needed for students as exercises like walking cause cells to grow in the hippocampus which is located deep inside the temporal lobe and is linked to memory and mental cognition.
Helps you have a better body
Walking for 1km a day helps you burn anywhere around 100 calories which is actually very impressive as you can lose about 4 kg to 4.5 kg in a year without having to alter your diet. Experts have found that a step count between 5 thousand to 10 thousand a day is usually denoted towards a health-improving lifestyle.
People, especially women who averaged more than 10 thousand steps had less body fat around the waist and hips in contrast to women who averaged less than 6 thousand steps a day, and middle-aged women who often walk are less likely to have any complications of breast cancer and are 50% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
You also walk towards a greener planet
Avoiding just about 15 Km of drive per week can help reduce 200 Kg of carbon dioxide emission per year.
It helps with many health conditions
Cardiac condition:
It has become a very common problem despite the age, the number of people with cardiac conditions is increasing exponentially due to their eating habits, lifestyle, and the general change in the environment. A walk for 1 hour to 1.5 hours a week or a minimum of 5000 steps a day is crucial and helps with the circulation of blood and maintaining your heart rate.
Diabetes:
It is relatively easy to manage general health complications like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure when walking is a daily routine, Walking for 15 minutes to 20 minutes a day after a meal helps maintain diabetes.
Obesity:
Obesity is a very common problem faced by the entire world and is not confined to a particular part of the world, According to research 1.9 billion people (13%) out of the 8 billion of the world’s population suffer from obesity.
It has also been found to counteract or cancel out the effect of weight-promoting genes according to a study by Harvard University.
Walking reduces the risk of death caused due to kidney failure: In people with chronic kidney disease, it has been found that walking helps tremendously. People who walked daily and were diagnosed with any kind of kidney disease have cut down their death rate by a third in comparison to those who do not walk.
Reduces side effects of cancer: A brisk which is not hard on the body can help reduce the risk of prostate cancer in men.
Boosts immunity
Walking can very well protect you during a cold or the flu season, it strengthens your antibodies to fight against unwanted substances called antigens and reduces inflammation. Physical activity may also help remove harmful bacteria from the lungs and the airway.
The rise in temperature during a walk prevents bacteria from growing on and in your body, Antibodies, and white blood cells circulate more rapidly and help fight diseases. Additionally, the stress that is reduced also helps fight illness.
Encourages you to be healthier
It encourages you to be and eat healthier reducing or completely stopping your unhealthy snacking habits either directly by making you feel full or by the mental intuition that you have already started to work on your body and it is only going to counteract the effects of walking if you snack of unhealthy fatty and salty foods.
It reduces cravings for sweets: A walk for 15 minutes a day can reduce cravings for chocolate and even the amount of chocolate you consume during stressful situations therefore the latest research suggests that walking can reduce cravings for sugary snacks.
Reduces the risk of breast cancer: As already discussed in the article, walking or any other physical activity for that matter helps reduce the risk of breast cancer, women who walk every day are 14% less likely to have breast cancer as compared to those who walked less than 3 hours a week.
It reduces joint pains
Multiple studies have found that walking reduces pains that are related to arthritis and that walking for 10 km a week can actually reduce the risk of occurrence of arthritis in the first place, Walking protects the joints of the hips and the knee by strengthening the muscles that support these joints.
A few other things you must remember are to always warm up and cool down before and after a session of walking and it helps reduce soreness of muscles, making it easier on you for the next day,
it is also important to choose your walking gear correctly and avoid anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Avoid walking in rainy weather like it is shown in the movies as it is going to do more harm than good.
It helps build muscle
Walking is a form of cardio, it also helps build and tone your muscles in the leg, combining walking along with strength training allows your joints to breathe while also maximizing the chances of building muscle in the legs.
Strengthens your bones
It is of critical importance to maintain bone health, especially at the ages at which it is riskier, bone mass is achieved in great amounts in the case of children, adolescents, and young adults who are usually moderately active throughout the day. Bone density peaks at the age of 35.
up to the age of 35, bone loss is adequately compensated by the deposition of bone, but on reaching the peak of bone mass less bone is replaced thus finally causing more bone loss than re-deposition. Bone loss is minimized due to age and in cases of osteoporosis by daily activity like a brisk walk or jog, and it can minimize the risks of fractures.
Improves your chances of getting pregnant
A study published in the journal, Human Reproduction stated that walking was the strongest predictor of conception, for overweight and obese women who have walked for at least 10 to 15 minutes a day and showed improved chances their chances of getting pregnant anywhere from 80% to 90%.
Conclusion
Most physical activities like walking or jogging do not need to be done for multiple hours a week to stay fit and healthy, walking is very cost-efficient as it requires a very minimal amount of equipment and it can be done at your own pace. Nonetheless, walking adds years to your life.
It is very important to not overdo as overdoing even good things can have bad effects like pushing your body too much during a walk can cause muscle soreness, muscle degeneration, pain in the lower back
It is very important to the benefits of walking, to take into consideration your basic technique like keeping your neck and back relaxed, planning your routine, setting realistic goals, tracking your progress, and ultimately staying motivated and committed to walking as it is only going to do you good.
Some fun facts about walking, A bar of chocolate, for example, the mars bar would give you about 229 calories and it takes about 42 minutes of walking to burn 229 calories. A person walks about 65 thousand miles through his or her lifetime which is equivalent to waking around the earth three times!
A pair of shoes last for about 500 miles of walking.