Walking For Good Health And Safety Suggestions

Walking is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. Just 30 minutes every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers. Unlike some other forms of exercise, walking is free and doesn’t require any special equipment or training.

Top 15 Health Benefits Of Walking

1. Healthy Body: Walking daily can lift your mood and will make you physically strong. Just walk for half an hour a day and you can feel the difference yourself. Walking is the easiest way to have a healthy mind and body. It is a kind of aerobic fitness which is easy to do and provides many benefits.

2. Weight Control: Walking helps in keeping weight under control when followed by good and healthy diet. Scientists also say that even without changing diet habits, losing weight is possible if you’re walking for at least 45 minutes daily. Walking elevates heart rate and burns some calories which help in maintaining healthy weight. So, if you want to maintain your weight then do walk for at least 30-40 minutes daily and you’ll see the results soon.

Can I lose weight if my only exercise is walking?

Answers from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.

 

You might be able to lose weight that way, depending on the duration and intensity of your walking and what your diet's like. But eating fewer calories through dietary changes seems to promote weight loss more effectively than does physical activity.

That's not to say physical activity, such as walking, isn't important for weight control — it is. If you add 30 minutes of brisk walking to your daily routine, you could burn about 150 more calories a day. (To lose a pound a week, you generally need to eliminate 500 calories a day.) Of course, the more you walk and the quicker your pace, the more calories you'll burn.

How to Start Walking for Exercise

1 Find a good place to walk. Generally, the locations for walking have a flat terrain, straight path, smooth surface and minimal traffic. The convenient choice would be the neighborhood around your block, but if the road is too steep, curvy or just not what you're looking for, you might want to consider other areas around your town.

• Ensure you are wearing appropriate footwear as walking puts a bit of pressure on your feet which can cause pain. Also, be sure you are wearing the correct footwear for the weather.
• Take your car to a park if it's too far away to walk; parks are often flat and very peaceful.
• Some cities have bike boulevards or walking paths that are relatively flat and well-maintained. They also generally have less traffic from cars. These are good areas to pick for walking as well.
• If you won't be tempted by the stores(shopping), shopping malls are also good locations for walking around. They are flat, large, and probably contain many different paths so you won't become bored.
• If you live near a large body of water, the shoreline can be a nice, relaxing place to get some fresh air and to work in an early morning hike.
• If indoor exercise is your thing, use a treadmill set to a slow speed for walking

Walking For Exercise