Walking for good health

A research has found that living in poor lifestyle increases a person’s risk for a wide range of physical and mental health problems such as obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and depression. Just 30 minutes daily walk can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce risk such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.

A research found that a person needs to walk 4400 steps daily. According to an article in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, people must walk 4400 steps daily, who want to stay healthy and longevity. At the same time, increasing the step reduces the risk of diseases. More than 7500 steps should be taken every day, else do 20 minutes of workouts daily.

Walking is the best way to improve or maintain your overall health. It gives relief in all diseases. However, how many steps should be taken in a day. There is always a difference of opinion among the experts on this subject. Many researches have been done for this and many researches are being done. Earlier a research suggested walking 10,000 steps daily. However, if you want to live longer, you don’t have to walk 10K steps. Let us know how many steps must be taken daily to stay healthy and longevity. Walking is also a great form of physical activity for those people who are overweight or who haven’t exercised for a long time.

Lets walk, it’s totally free of cost and easy to do. There’s no question that walking is good for you. A research study found that people who walked had less body fat than those who didn’t walk. Daily walk minimize the threat of blood clots, contracting and pumping blood from the feet and legs back to the heart, It also reducing the load on the heart. In addition to being a simple aerobic workout and walking is good for you in many other ways. What is the benefit of walking? Lets see..

Benefits of Walking

Walking at least 30 minutes daily can reduce your risk for coronary heart disease.  Walking improves the heart rate, decreases blood pressure and strengthen heart. It depends on the duration or distance you walk per day. People who walk 30 minutes a day can lower their risk of stroke by 20%, and by 40% when they stepped up the speed.

Walking can helps you to burn calories for maintain or lose weight.

Calorie burn depends on many factors, including:

• walking speed
• distance covered
• terrain (you’ll burn more calories walking uphill than you’ll burn on a flat surface)
• your weight

How many calories does walking burn? It depends on your weight and walking speed:

 

These calculations are based on walking on flat surfaces and walking uphill

3. Support Your Bones
Walking can reduces the loss of bone mass for those with osteoporosis, according to Michael A. Schwartz, MD, of Plancher Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in New York. Women who walk 30 minutes daily lowered their risk of hip fractures by 40%.

4. Enjoy a Longer Life
Elder people who exercise frequently in their fifties and sixties are 35% less likely to die over the next 8 years than their non-walking counterparts.

Going for a walk when you’re tired may be a more effective energy boost than taking a cup of coffee. It can increases oxygen flow through the body. It can also increase levels of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. These hormones helps to elevate energy levels.

6. Improve Your Mood
Walking releases natural painkilling endorphins to the body, one of the benefits of exercise. It can help reduce anxiety, depression and improves your mental health. A California State University, Long Beach, research study revealed that the more actions people took throughout the day, the much better their moods were.

7. Reduce weight
A 30-minute walk burns 200 calories. Over time, calories burned can result in weight loss. Read also 30 Best And Effective Tips To Lose Weight Naturally.

Taking a short walk after meal may lower your blood sugar.

A study found that taking a 15-minute walk after breakfast, lunch, and dinner can improved blood sugar levels more than taking a 45-minute walk at another time during the day. Consider a post-meal walk as a regular part of your routine, can also help you fit throughout the day.

9. Strengthen Muscles
Walking tones your leg and stomach muscles by moving the pressure and weight from your joints to your muscles.

Walking may reduce your risk for developing a cold or the flu. During the season, those who walked for 30 to 45 minutes daily had 43 percent fewer sick days and fewer upper respiratory tract infections overall. If you live in a cold climate, then you can try to walk on a treadmill or around an indoor mall to experience these benefits.

11. Improve Sleep
Research studies discovered that ladies, ages 50 to 75, who took one-hour early morning walk, were more likely to alleviate sleeping disorders than ladies who didn’t walk.

12. Support Your Joints
Most of joint cartilage has no direct blood supply. It gets its nutrition from joint fluid that distributes as we move. Motion and compression from walking “crushes” the cartilage, bringing oxygen and nutrients into the area.

Walking can helps to the joints, including your knees and hips. Because it helps lubricate and strengthen the muscles that support the joints. It also benefits for people living with arthritis.

13. Improve Your Breath
When walking, your breathing rate increases, causing oxygen to take a trip faster through blood stream, assisting to remove waste products and enhance your energy level and the capability to heal.

14. Slow Down Mental Decline
A study on 6,000 women, ages 65 and older, carried out by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that age-related memory decline was lower in those who walked more. The women walking 2.5 miles per day had a 17% decline in memory, rather than a 25% decrease in women who walked less than a half-mile each week.

15. Lower Alzheimer’s Risk
A research study from the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville discovered that men between the ages of 71 and 93 who walked more than a quarter of a mile per day had half the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than those who walked less.

16. Do More for Longer
Aerobic walking and resistance workout programs may decrease the occurrence of special needs in the activities of day-to-day living for individuals who are older than 65 and have symptomatic OA, a study released in the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management found.

Disclaimer: Story tips and suggestions are for general information. Do not take these as the advice of any doctor or medical professional.

Walking Safety Tips 

Generally Walking is a safe way to exercise, but look out for an unexpected hazards. Suggestions include:

• Consult with doctor for a medical check-up before starting a new fitness program, particularly if you are overweight, aged over 40 years and haven’t exercised for a long time.
• Choose walking level that suit your age and fitness. Warm up before and cool down after with a slow, gentle walk to ease in and out of your exercise session.
• Wear loose, comfortable clothing, and appropriate footwear.
• Use sunglasses, sunscreen, long sleeves and a hat to avoid sunburn.
• Take waterproof clothing to avoid getting wet if rains.
• Carry a walking stick or umbrella to fend off unleashed or unfriendly dogs.
• Before bushwalking, check the weather forecast and take appropriate safety measures.
• If you walk in the evening or early morning hours, wear a reflective vest or light so cars can see you.
• Drink plenty of juice and water before and after your walk. If you are going for a long walk, then carry water with you.

Source: arthritis.org and healthline.com