Walking for Health

How walking is beneficial to your health

There isn’t even enough space here to include all the health benefits of walking. Walking is simple to do, most healthy people can do it even if it might seem hard at first, and you can do it almost anywhere at any time. The only special equipment you need are good walking shoes, and then you’re in business.

Burns More Calories – Walking burns calories like any other exercise, but without the impact and stress that other forms of exercise can like jogging and running. Even if you’re not feeling well, you can go on a leisurely stroll and still get the benefits of the movement.

Builds a Strong Heart – Working out always helps your heart because you cause your cardiovascular system to work a little harder, which is good for it when you’re healthy. Keeping your heart strong will keep you alive much longer.

Builds Better Bone Health – As we age, our bones become more brittle and we experience more pain. This can lead to broken bones and other issues. But if you keep walking and moving, you’ll be less likely to develop those problems.

Improves Balance and Coordination – The more you use your body, the more it works for you. Walking more often improves your balance and coordination because your body gets used to standing upright and moving more often. It’s a matter of practice and getting the muscles and ligaments strong.

Improves Your Lung Capacity – Walking, especially fast walking, will get your breathing up and cause you to build your lung capacity. Usually it takes about six to eight weeks of cardiovascular workouts to see the full improvement that you can experience.

Lower Your Blood Sugar – People with high blood sugar can see huge benefits from walking and burning off that extra sugar in their blood. It’s not a cure for type 1 diabetes but it can help people with type 2 tremendously, and it can help people with type 1 lower their insulin requirements.

Eases Joint Pain – As people age, they tend to get joint pain, often caused by arthritis. It might seem counter-intuitive to keep moving through that pain, but pain from arthritis absolutely can be reduced from more movement. This is because arthritis causes build-up of scar tissue in the joints from lack of movement, so if you move more it can stop that problem.

Boosts Your Immunity – Getting your blood pumping and your cardiovascular system working will also boost your immunity from regular common illnesses like colds.

Energises You – Anytime you’re feeling tired for no reason, try going on a fast, ten-minute walk and you’ll find that you have much more energy. This is one reason a fast walk is an excellent way to wake up in the morning.

Improves Your Mental Health and Mood – A nice walk in nature can vastly improve your mental health and mood. If you are feeling down, getting out in nature for a leisurely walk can help. If you’re feeling anxious, try a fast walk (even on a treadmill) to burn that extra energy.

Helps You Live Longer and Healthier – When you incorporate daily exercise into your life, it will extend your life. Not only that, you’ll also enjoy your life much longer because you won’t be as sick or in as much pain.

Strengthens and Tone Your Leg Muscles – There is no hiding the fact that walkers have good legs, but it does also improve muscle tone all over your body – especially if you work on getting your arms in on the action and pay close attention to your glutes and core muscles.

Boosts Your Creativity – Anytime you’re having a glut of good ideas for anything you’re trying to accomplish, going for a walk without technology, just you and nature (or just you and the treadmill), you’ll get a boost of creativity that will carry you through.

Walking is something almost anyone can do. Because of that fact, it makes it the perfect exercise to start if you want to get healthier and improve your life in every single way. When are you going to start your walking program?

Choose the right walking shoes

One of the things you need to consider if you want to start a walking program for yourself is your footwear. Finding the right shoe for walking is essential because if you have foot pain or problems with your feet, it can cause problems with the rest of your body too – from your legs to your knees to your back and more.

If you’re going to use the shoes for walking, you should buy a walking shoe. Walking shoes are typically lightweight, allow for ventilation to prevent moisture, have outsoles that provide traction, plus they offer the right type of arch support.

Wearing the right walking shoes will prevent issues such as blisters, as well as body pain that can be caused by the shock of your foot hitting the pavement. That’s why a walking shoe is lighter, has good shock absorption due to the way the outsole is made, and good materials inside to cushion the impact of hitting the ground with each step. Your feet will thank you, and your entire body will thank you too.

Tips to smart walking

The main thing to remember, no matter what you’re setting a goal for, is that your goals should be SMART. That means they need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. If you make a habit of creating goals for all aspects of your life using this acronym, you’ll be a lot more successful – no matter what you do.

Creating SMART walking goals

Here is an example of a healthy yet sedentary office worker for you to follow:

Specific – My goal is to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps per day by the end of six months, starting where I am now at 1000 steps per day.

Measurable – Every day, I will add 100 steps to my total. It will take me 90 days to reach 10,000 steps per day.

Attainable – I am overweight but with no health problems, so my goal to walk 10,000 steps a day by the end of 90 days and to maintain it for 6 months is entirely doable in terms of my health.

Realistic – Adding in 100 steps a day is realistic because I am healthy, and I have enough time. It’ll take me about an hour and a half at my walking pace to reach 10,000 steps. I plan to walk each morning between 7 and 9 am. I also have an indoor place I can walk when the weather is terrible.

Timely – By adding the goal of reaching 10,000 steps in 90 days, then maintaining that for six months, it makes the goal timely – meaning it has a time limit that you have set for you to reach your goal.

As you see, crafting SMART walking goals will help you set up a plan that is achievable if you simply follow it. Once you have set the plan up, you can put it in your calendar, tell your accountability partner, and then just follow it. You will reach your goal without issue.

Track your progress

When you are truly committed to something, the best way to succeed is by making goals and then measuring and tracking your progress toward reaching those goals. Most life coaches love the saying, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” And, whether you like it or not, that’s the truth. If you want to succeed in your walking plans to improve your health goals, then track your progress.

Let’s look at some different ways that you can track your walking progress.

Buy a Pedometer – There are many different types of pedometers out there. You can get one for about ten bucks nowadays. A pedometer counts your steps for you so that you can simply wear it all day or when you are exercising to ensure you are getting as far as you want to get each day.

Write in Your Calendar/Planner – A low-tech way (unless you use an online calendar) is to simply write down in your calendar how far you walked each day. That way you can ensure you’re hitting your daily goals, which will also ensure you reach your long-term goals. Even if you are using an electronic means of tracking, sometimes it’s more motivating to see your calendar filled with walking data.

Join an Accountability Group – On Facebook and other social media platforms, there are numerous support and accountability groups for walkers that you can join. You can tell the group your goals and sometimes find a mentor that will hold you accountable in your walking goals.

Get a Fun Tracker Like Fitbit – Fitbit.com offers not only an app that is essentially a pedometer, but also more features such as joining with others to track your walking, sharing your walking, and meeting up with others who love walking.

Get Fun Personal Training Software – Need even more motivation to track your progress? A fun app that can help you stay motivated is called Walk at Home. You can sign up for free, and it’s like having a personal trainer in your pocket each day while you’re also keeping track of your progress.

MapMyWalk – Map My Walk is an app that tracks your walking progress. However, it’s even more than that because you can find walking trails in cities across the world that you might want to try. Plus, you can keep track of your time and distance with the app.

Tracking walking progress is essential to ensuring your success with walking for health issues. The only real way to be sure you are doing what you have set as your goal is to double-check your progress using any of these methods. If you write it down and look at it regularly, it will motivate you to do more.

Ways you can introduce walking into your daily life

Many people claim that the reason they cannot walk more is their busy schedule. However, the truth is, the things you make time for are the things that get done. By planning for roadblocks and developing a plan to overcome them, you can fit walking into your daily schedule seamlessly without much trouble. Just follow these tips.

Walk during Lunch – You shouldn’t miss your food break, but you can eat a sandwich or fruit and walk at the same time. If you have a flexible office, another alternative is to walk during lunch and eat at your desk while doing your work.

Only Watch TV while Moving – If you like to watch TV, make a rule that you can only watch while moving. You can walk on a treadmill, or you can just march in place during the show. That is going to bring lots of extra walking into your life.

Listen to Audio Books – If you like to read, instead of reading buy audiobooks, then make a rule for yourself (and even your kids) that you can only listen while walking and moving.

Start Your Day Right – Get up 30 minutes early so that you can work in a 20-minute speed walking session before your shower, coffee, and breakfast. By starting your day right, you’ll be ahead of the game.

Walk Instead of Email at the Office – If you work in an office building, you probably send a lot of emails back and forth. But if you know that the person you send the email to has to print the document, you can print it yourself and then walk it to them to get in those extra steps.

Get Off the Bus Early – If you take public transport, don’t get off at your stop but get off early in an area that is safe for you to grab 15 extra minutes of walking.

Walk to the Store – Do you live near a minimarket or some sort of convenience store? Instead of grabbing the next carton of milk by driving to the store, just walk to your local store. Even though it cost more money there, the added benefit of walking and using less fuel makes up for it. Use a backpack to carry your groceries home safely.

Keep Your Gear with You – Keep a set of walking gear in your vehicles such as shoes, socks, and clothing, so that you can dress for walking any time you want to.

Add Walking to Your Daily Family Time – Walking for 20 to 30 minutes after dinner used to be a time-honored tradition for families who lived in the suburbs in the days of wrap-around porches and close community connections. You can still do that with your kids and partner to add walking into your day while also spending time with the people you care about.

Avoid Sitting When Waiting – If you must wait on people for appointments, instead of sitting, take the time to pace and walk. Even if you just march in place, it will make a difference.

Any bit of movement you can squeeze out of your day is beneficial to your health mentally, physically, and spiritually. You’ll feel better about yourself the more you can walk, and it’s going to show to others in your appearance and your health.

woman waling uphill along a path, walking for health

Walking for weight loss

According to the National Library of Medication from the National Institute of Health, walking only after meals can be more effective than any other walk that you do. Because of this, it’s clear that walking can enable you to lose more weight than if you only concern yourself with diet.

Calories in Calories Out

When it comes to any type of weight loss, the trick is to consume fewer calories than you expend. One way to be able to eat more while losing weight is to move more – thus using more calories. To lose a pound of body weight, you will need to have a deficit of 3,500 calories over what it takes your body to maintain its current weight. 3500 calories equals approximately one pound of body weight.

Try Power Walking in Intervals

Because you know that calories in and out make a huge difference, you can do the math to find out how much you should lose if you’re also tracking your calories taken in and burned. When you add power walking (fast walking) in intervals to your average walking pace, you can increase your calorie burn.

Add Resistance Training to Your Walk

Some walking trails have some of these spots added in – if so, use them. Do squats, push-ups, burpees, triceps dips, and lunges periodically to add challenge and extra calories burned into the walking workout.

Always Walk for 20 to 30 Minutes Post Meals

In addition to your typical “exercise” walks, try walking right after your meals before you clean up or do anything else. On this walk, you can walk at a moderate to easy pace. The point here is to assist your body with digestion. If you tend to have tummy troubles after meals, skip this part.

Walk Briskly

When you walk from place to place, like your car to the store or the bus stop to your front door, don’t drag along. Pick up the pace and walk briskly. You should be able to talk but not sing if you’re walking fast enough.

Use Technology

There are numerous apps to help you not only get your form right but also track your progress, including the steps you make each day. Apps like Fitbit.com and others really help and motivate – not only due to the numbers on the app but also due to the community that has been created.

Add Some Weights

When your normal walk isn’t feeling like it’s working you out enough, and you’re otherwise in top shape, try adding some weights to your walk. They make weighted vests for just such an occasion to help. You’ll burn more calories with every move.

Go Uphill

Try finding trails that have hills occasionally. Walking uphill is harder on your body and will cause a more significant calorie burn. Plus, it’s good for your entire cardiovascular system to get your heart pumping faster. Remember, if you burn an additional 3500 calories over what your body is using, you’ll lose one pound in the course of a week. This can be accomplished by merely walking fast for 30 minutes per day if you plan your moves right and add weights if needed.

Keep Good Posture

Always maintain the right posture for walking. You should stand up straight. Your feet should be a comfortable width apart with your toes pointed forward. Do not arch your back, do engage your core muscles, and walk by rotating your hips forward with your buttocks. Keep your chin parallel to the ground, and your neck and shoulders relaxed. It helps if you focus on what is about 20 feet ahead of you, while also adding arm motions.

Finally, ensure that you are using the right stride. You should be hitting the ground with your heel, rolling through the step from heel to toe, and pushing off with your toes to get a faster pace. Don’t pound the ground when you walk; focus on keeping the impact minimal while taking more rapid smaller steps.