Twelve things happen to your body if you walk every day. The Greek physician Hippocrates once said walking is a man’s best medicine. Well, he hit the nail right on the head with that one walking is totally free.
It requires a little effort and benefits not only your physical but also your mental well-being. We’re about to get into the fit formula of running and how it can help you out.
Here are 11 surprising benefits of regular walking to improve your overall health.
Brain-boosting effect
A study at the University of Kansas has revealed how low-impact aerobic exercises like walking prevent the early onset of dementia. It also helps to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Over 3 million people around the world suffer from Alzheimer’s and sadly it’s only getting worse.
Scientists predict that this number will double in the next 20 years. The good news is that people who are physically active throughout their life are much less prone to this disease than those who have a more sedentary lifestyle.
Lose Weight
Regular walking offers many potential health benefits including weight loss. Adding 30 min of brisk walking to your daily routine can help your burn calories and maintain your weight under control.
Improves mental health
Walking improves your overall mental well-being by reducing stress and releasing endorphins. It stimulates not only the production of chemicals responsible for brain health but also the growth and survival of neural blood vessels and cells.
Improves eyesight
It also improved eyesight surprisingly right moving your legs helps your eyes. How the heck do they have anything to do with each other? well first off walking can help fight glaucoma by relieving eye pressure.
In general, both low and high-intensity exercise strengthens and stimulates the visual cortex that part of the brain that processes the images our eyes send to it so get on the road to improve vision and protect your eyes.
Reduce the risk of glaucoma
Walking is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of developing glaucoma and even relieve its symptoms. If you think you’re way too young to start worrying about glaucoma you should know that walking is good for eyesight.
Prevention of heart diseases
Prevention of heart disease you’re probably well aware of the fact that running makes your heart stronger. According to the American Heart Association walking is no less effective than running when it comes to the prevention of heart disease and stroke a daily half-hour walk helps avoid serious problems like coronary heart disease by lowering high blood pressure and cholesterol levels and improving blood circulation.
Increased lung volume
Walking is an aerobic exercise which means that it increases oxygen flow in the bloodstream and helps eliminate toxins and wastes. In short, it’s great for your lungs because of better quality and deeper breathing some symptoms associated with lung disease can show significant improvement.
The stress and medication that lung disease brings with it weaken the immune system of those suffering from it. We all know that spending time outdoors is a great immunity booster so why wouldn’t you start walking every day.
Benefits for the pancreas
Believe it or not, walking for exercise is a surprisingly more effective way to prevent diabetes than running is. Walking demonstrated a 6 times greater improvement in glucose tolerance or blood sugar absorption.
More efficient use of blood sugar allows your pancreas to produce less insulin. This gives it a much-needed rest to gather strength proved digestion. Just half an hour of walking every day lowers the risk of developing colon cancer. It also improves digestion and regulates bowel movements.
Relieve Insomnia
Studies found that people with regular morning walks are more likely to relax sleep and relieving from insomnia than those who don’t.
Toned muscles
Muscle tone and weight loss are also totally achievable through simple walking. In fact, just 10,000 steps a day can be just as effective as a full-blown workout at the gym. Just remember to use the correct form though keep your spine straight bend your elbows at a 90-degree and stabilize your pelvis.
Sturdier bones and joints
Walking can provide more joint mobility prevent the loss of bone density and even reduce the risk of fractures. The Arthritis Foundation recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate walking a day to reduce pain stiffness and inflammation in the joints.
Forward as well as back walk benefits in building strong bones that help you prevent osteoporosis and reduce bone loss to back pain relief.
Cure Back Pain
Yet another ailment walking can cure is back pain. This is a real lifesaver for those who experience back pain during more challenging high-impact exercises. Since it’s a low-impact activity it won’t cause more pain or discomfort due to running. Walking contributes to better blood circulation within the spinal structures pumping reducing from backpain.
Make Mind Calm
Mind and body are connected, the Journal of psychiatric research published the results of a study on 50 individuals suffering from major depression. It showed that walking 30 to 45 minutes a day five days a week improves their conditions significantly.
How easily running could help us cope with just feeling down or exhausted. Another group of researchers at Iowa State University worked with hundreds of college students and walking changed their mood for the better even though no one warned them that it could do so.
Importance of walking
A joyful walk with a friend or loved one will only enhance that happy effect and improve your mood. If you now can’t wait to get out there and walk your you-know-what off hold on for a sec because you shouldn’t try to do too much right away.
Keep in mind the fit formula stands for frequency. How often intensity how fast and the time for how long when you want to level up change one of those components at a time-frequency.
If for whatever reason you can’t go for a walk every single day. Do this three to five times a week if you can only handle a five-minute walk. Start with that but do it regularly and gradually.
Add extra minutes to it just make it your routine that’s what matters. Two to three miles an hour is a good average intensity if that’s too much for you to set your own optimal pace. A good rule to remember is that you should be able to talk while walking. If you start running out of breath and your heart beats like crazy, you’re going too fast.
Time 30 minutes a day should be your goal you can also count steps to motivate yourself to keep going a good amount to aim for is 6,000 steps a day. Again, if that’s too much you can get there gradually and start with what you can manage right now.
If you still don’t feel motivated enough to start walking for your health, try joining a class. You can also find a buddy who also wouldn’t mind getting the benefits of walking.
Another idea could be to hire a personal trainer the money you have to pay them is a great motivation. For some people do you think walking is worth giving a shot or maybe you already do it and have success stories to share?
I hope this in-depth information about the valuable health benefits of walking will motivate you to join the club. This motivation will push you to acquire new habits in your daily routine.
