Benefits of Walking for Fitness
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As a "boomer", you might notice that the hop skip and a jump you used to have back in your teens and early 20's has somehow vanished to never-never land. Ripping off a 2 or 3 mile run without breaking a sweat has become a thing of the past and that flight of stairs causes a little more heart-thumping than you'd like to believe. Well rather than relegate yourself to the couch and become a professional "armchair-quarterback", perhaps getting out for a walk is just what the doctor ordered.
Walking is definitely one of the easiest and safest forms of exercise, and likely one of the least costly and enjoyable! Nothing clears your head or refreshes the mind like a brisk walk in the sunshine. Unlike running, it is not hard on the knees and usually won't cause any repetitive stress injuries or generally unpleasant side effects.
Although walking won't give you the same kind of cardiovascular workout that a run or bike ride would, it's still at least a great way to get some form of exercise into your daily or weekly routine - and you can enjoy it with pretty much anyone since there's no prerequisite skills or experience necessary.
Getting out for a brisk walk for 30 minutes a day is probably the minimum you'd want to do if you intended on using fitness walking as a means of exercise. Of course what is considered a "brisk" walk is a relative term, but as a guideline, 2 to 3 miles an hour would be perfect.
Also, it's not absolutely necessary to do your 30 minute walk all at once - you can even break it up into 3 or 4 times a day as long as you try to maintain your brisk pace for about 10 minutes at a time. This way, it's very easy to incorporate a daily walk into your regular schedule and just going for a light walk after dinner or over lunch is a great way to break the monotony of the day.
So what are some key benefits of fitness walking? Some pretty amazing things really, such as strengthening your heart and lung capacity, it can help you ward off heart disease, it helps lowers your blood pressure, and increases the amount of "good cholesterol" or high density lipoprotein in your blood. Some doctors even say that walking for fitness regularly can cut your risk of getting a heart attack by half!
Walking is also a good way for some people to lose body fat and maintain a healthy body weight. This is especially true as you get older and that's when you become more susceptible to weight gain. Fitness walking can increase your metabolic rate for the day and thus helps you avoid putting on any unwanted pounds.
Fitness Walking has also been shown to prevent or at least delay the onset of diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, and osteoporosis, and also decreases the risk of suffering a stroke caused by a blood clots. Amazing how something that you do every day without even thinking about it has so many benefits to your health - and it's EASY!
Furthermore, walking is also considered a good treatment for depression and studies have actually shown that people on antidepressant medication who exercised regularly by just walking had a much lower risk of experiencing a relapse.
With all the benefits mentioned, it's no wonder that more and more people are choosing walking for fitness as an integral part of their exercise routine. If you decide to walk for fitness, make sure you buy a good pair of shoes that offer a little bit of room for your toes and also get some comfortable socks to cushion your feet.
Take your time at first and keep in mind that although you're walking for exercise, you don't have to treat it like a race! Try and start with some warm up stretches and exercises and always stretch after you're finished as part of your cool down. This will help you avoid getting muscle aches and you'l be able to get out on the road feeling fresh.
Another great thing to do is journalize all of your efforts including your distance, perceived level of exertion, if there were hills or stairs included, and even your weight. See if you can walk for longer and farther as time goes on and incorporate different routes so it doesn't get too familiar and/or boring. Seeing your own success will encourage you to keep on walking, and who knows, that just might progress to running!
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