March brings us “Walk All Over Cancer “a fundraising and activity challenge that occurs annually in aid of the y Cancer Research UK. Participants are challenged to a sponsored walk of 10,000 steps every day during the month, and all proceeds from the fundraising are donated to the charity.
So why should we walk
every day?
There are dozens of reasons how walking every day can help you improve your lifestyle, but here’s a list of the 15 major benefits to every day walking.
1.
Increase Your Lifespan
Staying
healthy is a crucial part to living a long and happy life, but you don’t need
to be running marathons into your seventies to reap the benefits of staying
active. A new study has shown that frequent walking can add up to 7.2 years
onto the life of an individual.
For
most people, getting 20 minutes of walking is easy. Taking a pet for a walk or
just strolling around the park for some relaxation is a great way to get the
exercise you need to live longer.
2.
Manage Your Weight
You don't need to go on extreme diets or exercise rigorously to begin losing weight. Just walking can be enough to see a few pounds drop away. When you walk for extended periods of time, you can actually find that walking helps jump start your weight loss program and may even help you walk off an entire pants size in just a few weeks.
If you're looking to use walking to help you lose weight, you may need to engage in a stronger program than just walking from Point A to Point B. Adding interval walking, keeping a certain pace, and walking with exercise bands are all great ways to help promote weight loss as you walk.
3. Burns Fat
When we're looking to lose weight or just feel better in our own skin, burning fat is one of the biggest priorities we may have. Many of us who suffer with excess body fat got that way because of a lack of exercise and movement. Luckily, it isn't difficult to begin losing weight; it just takes a few days of brisk walking.
While walking can help you to lose excess fat, you probably aren't going to get the body of your dreams from walking alone. That being said, brisk walking can help you prevent belly fat from growing or from gaining fat.
4. Helps Overweight People Get into
Shape
Frequent
walking is a great exercise for anyone looking to jump start a weight loss plan
or workout regimen, particularly those who are currently overweight.
Walking
is an easy way for individuals who are overweight to get the movement and
exercise they need. As walking gets easier, they can begin jogging or running
to further promote weight loss and getting in shape.
5. Reduces Stress
Walking can actually reduce stress in a number of ways, including setting your mind into a meditative state, boost endorphins, and give you more energy. The stress-reducing benefits of walking increase even more if you walk outside or bring a friend along.
When you walk, you are getting exercise while still taking the time to appreciate your surroundings, which can allow you to forget about your stresses and worries, catch up with a friend in a non-stressful environment, and get the benefits of a good exercise.
6.
Reduces Dementia
The
way that walking helps manage stress is very similar to the way it can help
prevent dementia. A recent study showed that just a 20 minute walk a day
actually reduced the susceptibility to dementia by 40%. Researchers on the
study believe that walking can reduce the risk of dementia by opening up the
window of the mind. Walking keeps the brain stress-free, releases endorphins,
and allows the blood to flow more freely and fluidly through the brain.
The best way walking can reduce the risk of dementia is through preventative measures, but it can also reduce some of the symptoms if patients of dementia begin walking regularly.
7.
Easy on the Joints
Walking has a very low impact on the joints, so it is a great form of exercise for individuals with problems or pain in their joints. Walking is also a great exercise for individuals with joint pain because it is low cost and can be done anywhere, unlike other forms of exercise that may require a certain location, like a pool, or special equipment. Additionally, walking is also one of the top low-impact exercises that can help you lose weight and burn calories.
Walking can also be a great way for athletes who have been injured to continue getting exercise they need. As something that is easy on the joints, going for frequent walks can allow them to stay mobile while they are recovering from their injury without needing to worry about compromising their condition.
8. Lowers Blood Pressure
Exercise
in general can help you to keep your blood pressure at normal, lower rates.
Luckily, walking is included in that spectrum and you don't even need to walk
for long distance.
If you are having trouble finding or making the time to get an adequate exercise in, walking for just three separate times a day can help you keep your blood pressure low.
Taking
a short, brisk walk in the morning, mid-day, and in the evening can be just as
beneficial as getting 30 minutes of intense exercise when it comes to your
blood pressure.
One
of the health benefits of walking daily is that it can help you to keep your
blood pressure at normal. Walking is an exercise that can help you to keep your
blood pressure at normal, lower rates.
Having high blood pressure can be extremely damaging to the body and the heart and can lead to serious health conditions like stroke or heart disease.
Those who have a family history of such diseases or high blood pressure should seriously consider adding a walking routine into their daily lives and habits.
9.
Strengthens Your Heart
Your heart health is incredibly important to your overall health, which means you need to pay attention to all diseases and illness that can harm your heart.
Luckily,
frequent walks can keep many of those diseases and conditions at bay, including
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Frequent walking is one of
the best things you can do for your heart and preventing heart disease from
developing.
Getting the recommended 20 minutes a day is a great start for ensuring your heart stays healthy and disease-free.
10.
Strengthens Your Bones and Reduces Your Risk of Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis
is a serious condition that causes the bones to weaken and become brittle.
While there is no cure for osteoporosis, there are a number of things you can
do to strengthen your bones, including walking.
Walking is considered a weight-bearing exercise, which means it puts weight on the bones. When doing a weight-bearing exercise, you're fighting against gravity to put pressure on the bones, which forces the bones to work more and gain strength.
Staying
still can be very harmful if you have osteoporosis, but it can also be
difficult to find exercises that are not too risky for the condition. This
makes walking one of the best exercises for individuals with osteoporosis.
As already mentioned, walking is easy on the joints, so while individuals with osteoporosis do not need to worry about further damaging their bones, they can still burn calories and get the exercise everyone needs.
11.
Reduces Depression and Improves Your Mood
As we already pointed out, walking can reduce your stress level. Having a high level of stress can cause you to be irritable and may even result in mental conditions like depression.
In
a recent study, researchers looked at how walking effected those suffering from
depression. By having some of the group walk for 25 minutes in different areas
of a city, they examined how walking in certain environments influenced the
individual's moods.
According
to the study, those who spent their time walking in green areas had better
moods and felt more engaged when they left their walking environment.
Among
the benefits of walking for exercise is that walking in green areas had better
moods. Whether you're suffering from depression or just need to clear your head,
taking about a half hour walk through a park can get you feeling better.
This
suggests that frequent walking in green, natural areas can reduce feelings of
depression and make you feel happier.
Whether you're suffering from depression or just need to clear your head, taking about a half hour walk through a park can get you feeling better.
12.
Boosts Your Memory
When we are physically fit and take the time to take care of our bodies, we usually experience higher levels of cognitive function. This means we can think more clearly, have an easier time remembering things, and are less likely to experience things like dementia when we grow older.
In
a recent study that looked at women, their physical activity, and their level
of cognitive decline as they aged, it found that the more physical an
individual is, the less likely they are to experience high levels of mental
decline.
By completing the 20 minutes of walking suggested each day, we can improve our memory and ward off cognitive diseases that can drastically decrease our quality of living.
13.
Improves Your Sleep
There are a number of ways that walking can help you to improve your sleep. Exercise in general helps our body deal with stress, work off excess energy, and better prepare for sleep.
Walking
is a great way to deal with our stresses and help to manage our moods, which
can frequently result in us staying up all night worrying about things like
relationships, work, or finances.
Frequent walking can help individuals who have trouble sleeping both by helping them fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
In a study with chronic insomnia sufferers, which includes individuals who cannot fall asleep easily as well as individuals who have trouble staying asleep through the night, they found that a moderate-intensity exercise helped reduce the symptoms associated with chronic insomnia. That same study found that other forms of exercise, like running or lifting weights, did not help individuals sleep.
14.
Tones Up Your Legs, Butt, and Stomach
Did
you know it can also help you tone up? When you switch up your walking routine
by adding new elements and locations, you can start to see the benefits you may
have only believed came with intense workout plans.
There
are number of things you can do to tone your legs, butt, and stomach as you
walk. One of the biggest suggestions is walking up hill, which can engage many
muscles in your body and allow you to see results.
If you don't have hills to walk up, find a place that requires you to walk up stairs, which can provide a similar effect. Other ways to increase your muscle movement and engagement when walking is to tighten your muscles as you walk. This gives them a similar experience to being naturally engaged; only they are experiencing manual engagement, causing them to work hard consistently.
Additional ways to tone up from walking include picking up your speed. If you're looking to get more benefit from your walking, consider walking faster or for longer periods of time. It is recommended to walk somewhere that you enjoy the scenery, which can increase the amount of time you're willing to walk.
15. Boosts Your Vitamin D
Vitamin D is crucial to our health and happiness, and the best way to get enough of the necessary vitamin is through spending time in the sun.
Being deficient in Vitamin D can lead to an increase of developing cardiovascular disease, and cause asthma in children, and may even cause cancer. It is also known to cause things like bone pain and muscle weakness.
Taking
frequent walks outside, particularly in the middle of the day when the sun is
at its brightest, can boost your levels of Vitamin D and get you feeling
better. Mid-day walking is also crucial in the winter, when the days are
shorter and it can be harder for individuals to get the amount of time in the
sun that they need.
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