Walking For Exercise

Want to feel healthy, more energetic, less stiff…then get out and walk! The average person will walk approx.115,000 miles in a lifetime which is more than four trips around the earth’s equator.

The benefits of walking, go on and on. The Canadian Podiatric Medical Association recommends walking to ward off a number of related illnesses. Following is a list of benefits:

• Strengthens your heart and lungs, and improves circulation.
• Reduces obesity and high blood pressure.
• Boosts your metabolic rate and lowers your cholesterol.
• Improves muscle tone.
• Reduces stress and tension.
• Reduces arthritis pain; stops bone tissue decay.

Walking actually strengthens your heart and lungs…thereby improving circulation. Your heart is a muscle, so it is increasing in strength just as leg muscles increase in strength when they work out.

Circulatory fitness is measured by how much oxygen you transport in your bloodstream to the muscles and how much of the oxygen the muscles use. The more fit you are, the more oxygen you can use (and the more calories you burn). By walking, you elevate your heart rate and, you teach the body how to use oxygen efficiently.

The a good healthy walk should make you “warm and slightly out of breath.” Compared to rigorous sports such as racquetball or running, walking burns less, but it is an activity you can do on a regular basis.

Waking is far more effective for body endurance, tone and overall health. Walking consistently everyday, will have a more positive effect on your body rather than a two hour golf game once a week.

Many physicians recommend adding regular walking and exercise as a natural treatment to relieve a bout of depression. The cause of depression is related to brain chemistry. By getting your brain to release more of the happy chemicals – the endorphins – you achieve naturally what many prescription drugs and herbs try to do.

Walking tips:

• Move at a steady pace. Move briskly enough to make your heart beat faster.
• Breathe deeply.
• Keep good posture. Walk with your head erect, back straight, abdomen flat.
• Swing your arms, and keep them relaxed
• Maintain proper foot motion. As you walk, land on the heel of your foot and roll forward to push off on the ball of your foot.

Waking can improve your health, your mental abilities, and allow you to enjoy nature; just by putting one foot in front of the other.