Ten Reasons for Daily Walking
Being Sedentary Just as Dangerous as Smoking & 10 Reasons You Should Walk
We can all agree that smoking is dangerous, but did you know that being sedentary can have just as many serious side effects and lead to progression of disease. You don’t need to join a gym, or hire a personal trainer, keeping things simple is just as effective. Putting on a good pair of sneakers and stepping out your door immediately engages you in your exercise, walking! Walking around your neighborhood is a great way to build community relationships, engage with neighbors while improving your health immediately!
Walking positively affects your health and your life. The Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation lists the following ten reasons of why you should walk, and they are worthy of your consideration!
Top 10 reasons
- Walking is good for brain health: improves thinking, improves brain cell function, reduces dementia.
- Walking improves mood: Increases happiness, lessens depression/anxiety, improves thoughts.
- Walking strengthens the heart: Improves blood pressure and heart rate, lowers cholesterol
- Walking improves lung function: improves lung efficiency, strengthens diaphragm, boosts energy level by increasing positive hormones, decreases fatigue by improving circulation of blood.
- Walking keeps your bones and joints strong and healthy: improves arthritis symptoms, increases joint flexibility, maintains bone density, reducing falls and bone breaks.
- Waking improves muscle strength in legs and body: maintains and improves muscle mass and strength, reduces muscle pain.
- Walking promotes digestion: Improves blood glucose (sugar) and insulin levels, reduces risk of developing high blood sugar or diabetes.
- Walking helps achieve and maintain healthy weight: supports weight loss, decreases waist size, improves muscle/fat balance even without weight loss.
- Walking improves sleep: improves duration and quality of sleep.
- Walking can help you live a longer and healthier life: improves overall health and wellbeing, slows and reverses the effects of aging and can help you live longer, doing your part for a healthier society!
Unsure of how to get started? You don’t need any gadgets, just try one day at a time. Be mindful of your effort, and focus on doing a little each day. Finding ways to make it enjoyable will make it less of a chore and more rewarding. Maybe there is a pleasant area of your neighborhood that you’d enjoy strolling through, admiring gardens and peoples home improvements. Perhaps there’s a coffee shop that would be a nice destination to walk to, with the goal of a cup of coffee. Starting small, being appreciative of your effort and building from there. Go ahead, walk your dog, or ask a neighbor to join you. Setting a small goal and enjoyable routine build healthy habits. Twice a week, start with a 15 minute walk, with the goal of increasing it to daily as soon as you’re ready. Being prepared for the weather, have a rain jacket, hat and gloves ready for the weather. There’s nothing to lose, but everything to gain!
Contributing independent author, Nichole Lindsay
Reference
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Aging Research & Geriatric Networking Group (ACRM-ARGNG). JD Ries, E. Philippou, H. Devos, A. Neg,m, Sm Pinto, PP Zanwar, PC Heyn.
“Ten reasons Why you should Walk and How to Get Started” Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2023; 104: 517-9