Walking: 23 benefits you don’t know
If you are a person looking for a single thing that would change your life completely, congratulation you have reached the right place. This physical activity does not require any investment, heavy machinery or special kits. You can just start it right now.
Yeah, I am talking about walking. Walking benefits encircle from physical health to psychological advancement. It would be correct if I say Walking is a habit of intelligent people.
It improves the brain working and efficiency in day to day life. Near about $5.6 billion would be saved annually if 10% of adults began a regular walking program. As long as you walk you will remain away from the hospital.
Walking doesn’t require any expenditure and expertise. Once walking is included in a daily lifestyle, it will provide the most effective way of losing weight and controlling lost already lost weight.
1. Blood circulation
Walking employs large muscle which requires constant blood supply during physical activity. In walking increased oxygen demand forces the heart to pump more blood as a result heart rate increases and blood pressure decreases. This phenomenon strengthens the heart and prevents heart diseases. Those women who walk near about three hours a week have a 43% lower stroke risk compared with inactive women according to health Harvard education.
2. Uphold bone
Walking pause the loss of bone density in case of osteoporosis. Women walking more than 12 Km ( 7.5 miles) per week or 1700 meters daily had higher mean bone density of the full body and the hind limbs and trunk regions of the body than women walking less than 1.6Km (1 mile) per week.
3. Longer life
Walking helps you to live a longer life than usual. According to American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention, It is found that people who took more steps each day had a remarkable lower risk of death than those who were less active.
All reason for mortality is drop-down by about 30% to 35% in physically active as compared to inactive subjects. Analysis of 13 studies reflecting eight different cohorts points out that regular physical activity is associated with an increase of life expectancy by 0.4 to 6.9 years.
4. Mood enhancer
Walking produces endorphins, which are natural painkillers that bind to an opioid receptor in your brain and block pain perception.
It also produces a feeling of satisfaction and pleasure which relaxes the person. Southern California university researchers showed that the more people walk each day, the more energetic they feel and the better their mood.
5. Decrease the weight
Walking burns calorie and help in getting rid of an extra amount of fat in your body. It is the most efficient way of losing and maintains weight. The rate of burning calories directly depends on walking speed, distance, the surface of walking, and weight. In moderate 30 min walking person of 80kg burns 139 calories whereas, in brisk 30 min walking similar person burns 160 calories.
6. Muscles build-up
Walking maintain the tune of the lower limb and abdominal muscles. The strengthening of muscle can be increased multiple times while walking over an inclined plane or hilly track. It also increases muscular endurance.
7. Sleep booster
Regular walking schedules provide deep sleep at night. In a recent study published recently in the journal Sleep Health, researchers at Brandeis University claims that when healthy adult individuals without any sign of clinical sleep problem increase the time they spend walking each day, they sleep better at night.
8. Ease joint
Joint comprise of bone end enclosed in a cartilaginous cavity. As we walk fluid-filled inside cavity moves and reaches every corner of cartilages. This fluid drives cartilage nutrition. Walking help this nourishment.
9. Improves breathing
Muscles involved in walking perform aerobic respiration. They constantly require oxygen which is transported through the blood. This oxygen is incorporated in blood at the site of the lungs. In walking breathe per min spiked up to ensure maximum oxygen availability in lungs.
10. Memory decline
Walking decreases the rate of memory loss with increasing age. Researchers found that those who walked the most reduced their risk of developing memory loss in half.
11. Keep Alzheimer’s way
Walking around 2Km daily may reduce the chances of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and cognitive skills. It was found by MRI, brain portion was intact in healthy adults who walked at least 72 city blocks, or 9.6 km or 6 miles, per week.
12. Break PMO addiction cycle
Every addiction is a type of vicious circle once a person enters it got trapped in it. This all happens due to synaptic plasticity in simple words means the wiring of your brain aligns in a particular pattern that forces you to do some work.
Walking generally increases the phenomenon of Neurogenesis. This newly created neuron can be utilized for bringing up a new habit. In this way, the person gets rid of the unwanted habit.
13. Increase creativity
The researchers found that walking increases the number of creative thoughts. Regardless of the walking environment whether indoor or outdoor provide creative inspiration. If you are facing difficulty in resolving any problem, you just take a short walk and it will generate numerous thoughts which help in solving.
14. Diabetes management
Diabetes involves dysfunction in blood sugar level management .walking after taking a meal to check the blood sugar level. A diabetic person who requires an insulin dose for reducing blood glucose should prefer walking. This will effectively manage glucose levels near to normal levels. Attractive results in health and reduction in expenses observed just by making patients with type 2 diabetes to linearly increases in physical activity such as walking.
15. Hypertension handling
Hypertension is categorized as a common as well as costly but treatable cardiovascular disorder. Regular physical activity such as walking can reduces blood pressure and has been recommended by American and European hypertension guidelines. The peak value of the blood pressure device dropped around 5 points after the 40-minute walk and 3 points after the four turn of 10-minute walks.
16. Boost immune system
It might be surprising for you that walking increases the immunity of individuals. Individuals who walked at a moderate stride for 30 to 45 minutes a day had 43 per cent lower sick days and lesser upper respiratory tract infections.
17. Spikes energy
After frustrated work or a busy refreshment schedule, your mind always inclines towards a cold drink or other beverages to reboot energy level. The short walk is a better substitute for this condition. As it increases the oxygen level in the body as well release cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. These all factors collectively help in regaining energy.
18. Kill craving
Generally, it is found in overweight people they have strong urges for high-calorie food such as pastries, cold drink, ice cream and sugary snacks in the short interval of time. The study proclaims that brisk walking can be used as a strategy to lower frequent food cravings according to Adrian Meule, a psychologist at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. Sugary food is linked with the dopamine rush in the brain other similar dopamine linked cravings could also be mastered by a short interval walk.
19. Improve body shape
As you were already aware that walking burns an extra amount of fat deposited over the body. It helps in shaping a perfect body shape. Walking trim the waistline and reduces belly fat. It also helps in getting rid of the overweight belly which bends the body. Walking makes straight, attractive and ripped body.
20. Stimulate your digestive system
Walking helps in improving bowel movement which in turn results in an enhanced digestion process. Walking can also help in irritable bowel syndrome. It also increases the diversity of the gut microbiota niche.
22. Reduce the breast cancer
According to an American Cancer Society study that zeroed in on walking found that women who walked seven or more hours a week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked three hours or fewer per week as compared to sitting women.
23. Enhances learning
Walking releases BDNF, a brain-derived neurotrophic factor. This induces new branches in exiting neurons and forms a fresh connection. This can be utilized in learning. After all, it improves information reception and processing.
How to walk?
After swallowing the indigestible benefit of walking, you have made the mind to add walking to your schedule as a priority. Now it became compulsory for you to learn, how to walk to unleash the entire benefit of walking.
a) Continuity
Even if you start walking from the next day remembering all these benefits, you will not last long. A regular walking routine will only help in changing dimensions. For this, you have to find a friend or life partner, who is committed to walking with you. If you don’t prefer a walking partner then do pet walking. This will help in achieving two objectives in one short.
To maintain a regular walking pace, it must be interesting and enjoyable otherwise prolong use of the same path might demotivate you. On alternate days, you should walk in four dimensions north, south, east, and west of your residence. Every day you will come across new surroundings and people.
b) Body posture
The maximum outcome of walking can’t be achieved without proper posture and aligned movement of body parts. Your eyesight should parallel to the ground. Arms, shoulder and neck should be relaxed. In walking back should be straight not tilted ahead. The Forelimb should move along the hind limb back and forth. Toes should be utilized for thrust in moving ahead.
c) Good shoes
Right shoes work as catalysts for walking. Shoes must have required arch, limited heel, heavy flexible soles to protect from sharpens and absorb shock. Good shoes don’t mean costlier or branded. It should compatible with your foot and not lead to pain and footsore.
d) proper outfit
Limited loose clothes should be opted for walking otherwise too loose outfits hamper the efficiency of hands and legs. Clothes should be made of moisture-absorbing fabrics which will handle sweat easily. If your night owl, you will prefer to walk at night along roads should wear the light colour or neon upper clothes, which will prevent the accident.
e) Warm-up
Sometimes walking initiated without warm-up results in injury. So before a beginning walk, it is recommended to have the required warm-up. For the warm-up, you can start from stretching and ankle movement clockwise as well as anti-clockwise. In the last phase of warm-up do abdominal and neck tuning. If you don’t want to do all these, you can start slower walking in the beginning phase.
Why measure?
If you’re starting from tomorrow or already have a programmed walking routine then most of us think that measuring steps count or calorie burn is just formalities. A pedometer measures the number of steps you take. This will motivate you to stride more.
You’re just like the captain on a ship without campus. Measuring gives motivation and momentum to continue walking. It helps in analyzing better and enforces to break the previous achievement.
You can use various step tracer, pedometer or step counter along with calorie burn counter available in android, ios and smartwatches. These will grant you immediate feedback on your muscles.
Conclusion
After deep-diving into the benefit of walking now, you have realized that movement is medicine. The simplest movement you can perform utilizing the entire body is walking. It does not involve heavy machinery and adds numerous pearls to our bodies. It is the best way to save money.
If you are extremely busy in your routine and unable to go outdoors. Then utilize your terrace or corridor or Park your vehicle away from the office and prefer stairs instead of the lift.
Our goal is achieved when you become conscious about your health and your target is still in your hand, so put up the tracksuit and get into shoes. Make at least one round to inaugurate the walking schedule from today.
