Health Benefits of Walking
Rose May Pimentel in Health
Oct 06, 2022 • 3 min Read
Walking as an exercise is cost free with loads of benefits but underrated. It provides the physical benefits of exercise while boosting your emotional well-being.
Walking helps cardiovascular fitness, bone strength, decreases body fat, and increases muscle strength and endurance. It can lower the risks of having illnesses like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and others. It also alleviates depression, fatigue, and improves the mood.
Walking is safe and convenient. It’s for people of all ages and fitness levels.
Here are some of the amazing benefits of walking:
1. Improves Circulation
Walking brings up the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and strengthens the heart. A research denotes that post-menopausal women who walk just one to two miles a day can lower their blood pressure by nearly 11 points in 24 weeks. Women who walk 30 minutes a day can reduce their risk of stroke by 20%, and by 40% when they stepped up the pace.
2. Shores Up Your Bones
Walking can stop the loss of bone mass for those with osteoporosis. One study of post-menopausal women found that 30 minutes of walking each day reduced their risk of hip fractures by 40%.
3. Enjoys a Longer Life
Research finds that people who exercise regularly in their fifties and sixties are 35% less likely to die over the next eight years than their non-walking counterparts. That number shoots up to 45% less likely for those who have underlying health conditions.
4. Lightens the Mood
Walking releases natural painkilling endorphins to the body – one of the emotional benefits of exercise. A study showed that the more steps people took during the day, the better their moods were.
5. Burns Calories
A brisk 30-minute walk burns 200 calories. Over time, calories burned can lead to pounds dropping.
6. Strengthens Muscles
Walking tones your leg and abdominal muscles – and even arm muscles if you pump them as you walk. This increases your range of motion, shifting the pressure and weight from your joints to your muscles.
7. Improves Sleep
Studies found that women, ages 50 to 75, who took one-hour morning walks, were more likely to relieve insomnia than women who didn’t walk.
8. Supports Your Joints
The majority of joint cartilage has no direct blood supply and gets its nutrition from the joint fluid that circulates as we move. Movement and compression from walking “squishes” the cartilage, bringing oxygen and nutrients into the area.
9. Improves Your Breath
When walking, your breathing rate increases, causing oxygen to travel faster through the bloodstream, helping to eliminate waste products and improve your energy level and ability to heal.
10. Slows Down Mental Decline
A study of 6,000 women, ages 65 and older, found that age-related memory decline was lower in those who walked more. The women walking 2.5 miles per day had a 17% decline in memory, as opposed to a 25% decline in women who walked less than a half-mile per week.
11. Lowers Alzheimer’s Risk
A study found that men between the ages of 71 and 93 who walked more than a quarter of a mile per day had half the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than those who walked less.
Indeed, walking is the perfect way to increase physical activity. And if you are having difficulty sleeping, moody, generally anxious, and feel fat — walk around the house, in the garden, around the block, or to the convenience store. Walking for five minutes every hour goes a long way.
Stay healthy and safe!
