On
an average day, 30 percent of American adults walk for exercise and with good
reason.
Walking
doesn’t require special equipment or athletic skills, yet it offers a host of
health benefits -- from helping you lose weight and lifting your mood to
controlling diabetes and lowering your blood pressure.
In
fact, a study published in the
journal PLoS Medicine showed
that adding 150 minutes of brisk walking to your routine each week can add 3.4
years to your lifespan.
Here
are 10 surprising ways to use walking to boost your health, along with tips to
make starting and sticking to a walking routine more fun.
1.
Walk to Manage Your Weight
Avoiding weight gain might be as simple as taking a walk.
Researchers
at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston followed more than 34,000
normal-weight women for
more than 13 years.
They
found that, over time, the women who ate a standard diet and walked for an hour
a day (or did some other similar moderate-activity exercise) were able to
successfully maintain their weight.
Fun
fitness tip: Buddy up for fitness
-- walk with a friend, neighbor, or a four-legged pal. A study published in the
Journal of Physical Activity & Health found that dog-owners walked
more each week and were more likely to reach the recommended levels of physical
activity than those who do not own dogs.
2.
Walk to Get Blood Pressure in Line
A heart-pumping walking routine can help lower your blood pressure, studies
show.
A
study conducted at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that moderate-intensity
walking was just as effective as jogging at lowering risk of high blood
pressure.
Fun
fitness tip: Can’t find a full 30
minutes to walk? Spread it out throughout your day -- 10 minutes here and 10
minutes there will add up if you stick with it.
According
to the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention, breaking your workout into several shorter
workouts throughout the day is just as effective as one longer workout session,
while also making it easier to fit exercise into your schedule.
3.
Walk to Protect Against Dementia
Walking, which improves cerebral blood flow and lowers the risk of vascular
disease, may help you stave off dementia,
the cognitive loss that often comes with old age.
According
to the 2014 World Alzheimer’s Report, regular exercise is one of the best ways
to combat the onset and advancement of the disease.
In
addition, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh conducted brain scans on
seniors and
found that walking at least six miles a week was linked to less brain
shrinkage.
Fun
fitness tip: Download upbeat music
you love to listen to on your iPod, and take it with you while you walk.
An analysis conducted by the
American Council on Exercise found
that music not only makes exercise more enjoyable, but it can also boost
endurance and intensity.
4.
Walk to Prevent Osteoarthritis
Walking is a great form of weight-bearing exercise, which helps prevent the
bone-thinning condition osteoporosis, as well as osteoarthritis, the
degenerative disease that causes joint pain, swelling and stiffness.
Researchers
from the University of California, San Francisco, found that people who
participated in moderate aerobic activities such as walking have the
healthiest knees because walking can help maintain healthy cartilage.
Fun
fitness tip: Reward yourself.
After you stick to your new walking routine for a few weeks, treat yourself to
a new pair of shoes, a manicure, or something else that will keep you
motivated.
5.
Walk to Reduce Cancer Risk
Walking may reduce your chances of developing some cancers.
Research
published in Cancer Epidemiology,
Biomarkers & Prevention found
that women who walked at least seven hours per week were 14 percent less likely
to develop breast cancer.
Similarly,
a study conducted by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco
and Harvard University, found that men who were
treated for prostate cancer and who walked briskly at least three hours a week
reduced their chances of a recurrence.
Fun
fitness tip: Explore. Try a new
route around the neighborhood, pick a different trail at the park, or go
walking in a new location altogether to keep it interesting.
6.
Walk to Prevent or Control Diabetes
“A
20- to 30-minute walk can help lower blood sugar for 24 hours,” says Tami Ross,
RD, LD, a spokesperson for the American Association of Diabetes Educators.
Plus, The Diabetes Prevention Program,a major government study, found that even a small weight loss
-- for example, 10 to 15 pounds for a 200-pound person -- can delay and
possibly prevent the onset of the disease.
Adding
a brisk walk to your daily routine is one of the easiest ways to reach and
maintain a healthy weight.
Fun
fitness tip: Dress for the
occasion. A good pair of walking shoes and comfortable clothes that are easy to
move in are essential for a successful workout.
7.
Walk to Lower Your Heart Disease Risk
Walking may help lower your cholesterol and, in turn, your risk for heart
disease.
According
to the American Heart Association,
walking just 30 minutes per day can lower your risk for heart disease and
stroke.
And
since regular walking can keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check, it is a
great way to boost your overall heart health.
Fun
fitness tip: Challenge yourself to
walk more steps every day and make fitness more fun, by using a pedometer or
other fitness tracking device to chart your progress.
You
can set new step goals each week and even join challenges with friends and
family to motivate yourself to get moving.
8.
Walk to Improve Your Mood
A brisk walk can boost your mood and may even help you treat depression.
A
Portuguese study published in the Journal of
Psychiatric Research found that depressed adults who walked for 30 to 45
minutes five times a week for 12 weeks showed marked improvements in their
symptoms when medication alone did not help.
Fun
fitness tip: Get outdoors! When
the weather permits, take your walk outside, for a dose of vitamin D and an
even bigger mood boost. Research published in the
journal Ecopsychology revealed
that group walks in nature were associated with significantly lower depression
and perceived stress, as well as enhanced mental well-being.
9.
Walk to Reduce Pain
It might seem counterintuitive, but to reduce pain from arthritis, start
moving.
Research
shows that walking one hour per day
can help reduce arthritis pain and
prevent disability.
The
study, published in Arthritis Care & Research, determined that 6,000 steps
was the threshold that predicted who would go on to develop disabilities or
not. Plus, a recent study found that walking
significantly improved mobility loss among patients with peripheral artery
disease (PAD), a condition where clogged
arteries
in the legs can cause pain and fatigue while walking.
Fun
fitness tip: Add some healthy
competition to your walk. As you move down the sidewalk or trail, imagine the
people in front of you are rungs on a ladder.
Then,
focus on walking fast enough to overtake them one by one.
10.
Walk to Reduce Stroke Risk
A large, long-term study reported in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart
Association, found that women who
walked at a brisk pace for
exercise had a much lower chance of having a stroke than those who didn't walk.
Researchers
credit this to walking's ability to help lower high blood pressure, which is a
strong risk factor for stroke.
Fun
fitness tip: Join or start a
regular walking club with friends or coworkers and make fun fitness plans for
your outings.
Recent research published in the British
Journal of Sports and Medicine found that participants were enthusiastic, less
tense and generally more relaxed after regular, organized walking groups.
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