Benefits of Walking
Walking is like the poster boy for moderate exercise. It’s not as intense as aerobic exercises like running, and you’d need to walk more frequently than you’d have to run, but it still gets the job done with lower risks of running-related injuries.
The effectiveness of any exercise depends on three things; intensity, duration, and frequency. Since the severity of walking is less than other forms of exercise, it is recommended that you do it at least five days a week, for a duration of 30 minutes each day. It doesn’t have to be on a proper walking track, you could just go for a stroll in any nearby park, forest, walk in the streets of your neighborhood or even just climb up and down a flight of stairs a few times! And the results would be astounding, soon you’d start feeling a difference yourself. Still need a little convincing to get out of your comfort zone and walk? Read on for some major benefits of walking.
Major health benefits
We’ve all heard the phrase health is wealth, and it honestly couldn’t be truer, especially when the health in question is our own. Everything else seems pointless and useless if we don’t feel our best and can’t enjoy the things that we love. All our other tasks, chores, and plans are secondary, our primary and most important responsibility is our own well-being. And how can you ensure that? By taking care of your body of course, and putting focus on your physical fitness.
Our body is the one thing that’s always with us, it’s only fair that we give it the best treatment and take care of it as we would of a prized possession. Here are some ways walking will help you achieve that goal.
- Burn Calories. Temptations are hard to resist especially when it comes to food. So what’s a good and simple way of keeping your calories in check? A 30 minute walk each day. There is sufficient evidence revealed in studies to show that a 30 minute walk can burn up to 200 calories. Try to take routes that are uphill or harder to walk on, this will burn extra fat and strengthen your muscles.
- Reduced risk of Chronic Diseases. Studies have shown that a daily stroll helps in preventing heart diseases by improving blood circulation, lowering blood pressure levels, reducing blood cholesterol levels thereby minimizing the chances of diabetes.
- Strengthen the heart. Regularly walking a few times each week can lower the chances of coronary heart conditions by as much as 19%. Your heart muscles could be further strengthened if you increase the duration of your walk to say 40-50 minutes.
- Improved Digestion. Your bowel movements are greatly affected by walking, as a consequence of which your digestion gets better. The motions in walking are great for your stomach and intestines and can help in improving their functionality.
- Immunity boost and life longevity. With the risk of cardiovascular diseases greatly reduced by walking, your mortality rate decreases, and you live a healthier longer life. Moreover, recent studies show that in people with arthritis, walking boosted the immune function for this inflammatory disease. Moreover, people who walk have 43% less sick days and milder symptoms for shorter durations if they do get sick, compared to people who do no physical activity.
- Alleviates joint pain. The motions involved in walking increase your mobility by strengthening the muscles around the joints. Walking 5-6 miles a week not only eases the pain at knees and hips by lubricating those joints, it can also help to prevent arthritis in younger individuals.
- Counteracts weight promoting genes. Harvard conducted a research on 32 obesity-promoting genes in over 12,000 people to study their effect and found that in individuals who walked briskly for an hour a day, the effect of these genes was cut in half.
- Less risk of developing breast cancer. While it’s already known that any daily physical exertion blunts the risk of breast cancer, a study by American Cancer Society showed that walking alone reduces that risk by about 14% in women who engage in the activity for 7 hours a week.
Improved mental health
We’re all plagued by the worries of everyday life and stress and anxiety have become quite common among the general population. Well, there’s a reason why walking is referred to as a form of physical therapy, it provides an easy outlet for all those bottled feelings and helps improve one’s mental state. Some common observations made regarding the mental status of people who walk regularly are as follows.
- Improved Mood. Endorphins are a sort of natural painkiller that are released by the body during walking. This lightens your mood and is a great emotional benefit. There is substantial evidence indicating that walking helps in fighting anxiety, depression, negative mood, boosts your self-esteem and even reduces the symptoms of social withdrawal.
- More creative and active. A lot of us procrastinate a lot or just put things off. But once you accomplish a simple task like walking, your mind feels more refreshed and ready to take on something else which can help you accomplish your other goals.
- Slower mental decline. Memory decline in older age is common throughout the world and seems like an inescapable fate. However, vast studies provide solid evidence that such a decline is much slower in people who are active and perform some physical activity like walking on a regular basis. It can also help to reduce the risk of other mental illnesses like Alzheimer’s.
- Better sleep. Have trouble sleeping at night? Start walking. People who do any light physical activity during the day are observed to snooze better during the night than those that are inactive. Walking diminishes insomnia by reducing stress or pain which helps you sleep peacefully.
- Increase Energy Levels. When you walk, blood flow around the body increases which means more oxygen and nutrients i.e. more fuel for the muscles of the body and the brain which can make you feel more active and energized. A correlation exists between a brisk walk and elevated levels of a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is in the brain and is responsible for how well you think, memorize and learn.
Comfortable Walking
You’ve read all the pros of walking, its benefits and how advantageous it could prove for you but maybe you’re still thinking it sounds like a hassle, you’ll have to step out of your comfort zone and change your routine? That’s true, but it is as they say: no pain, no gain. Nevertheless, we’re here to make your daily walk a peaceful, comfortable and enjoyable experience. Something that you look forward to rather than dread, something that gives you a sense of fulfilment by ensuring that you look and feel your best.
Clothes play a major role in how we perceive a certain activity or we feel about doing something, especially if it’s on a regular basis. Without the right clothes, there’s a huge chance that you might give up on your walking routine before it’s even begun or start thinking of it as a drag, and something just not worth the effort. And there are some of us who, it’s equally essential to look stylish and trendy, in addition to being comfortable. If you find yourself agreeing to these statements, head over to NTRL Army Apparel and discover a vast assortment of clothes and other accessories that you might need while walking.
From leggings, T-shirts, crop tops, tank tops to shorts and protein shakers, you can find almost anything you need there. They even provide starter packs, complete with socks and in different styles like black, white, pink, khakis etc. and you could choose what you like best. The best quality products at a reasonable price? You’ll definitely find those here.
To check out more of their stuff or simply to assure yourself of their chic and trendy style, which still keeps comfort in mind, you can visit their instagram page, ntrl army and select the product you think is most suitable for you and which would make your walking experience more smooth.