Walking for good health

Thinking about adding more physical activity to your day? Walking for 30 minutes a day or more on most days of the week is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. Interested to reap the benefits of walking? Here’s how to get started, and stay motivated

Benefits of Walking: Walking offers numerous health benefits, including weight management, disease prevention, immune system booster, improved fitness, muscle strength, better heart health, blood pressure control, mood enhancement, and stress reduction. The intensity and frequency of your walks determine the extent of these advantages.

Just over 20 minutes of walking per day may be enough to counteract the negative health effects of sitting all day, a new study finds: https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20231025/just-22-minutes-walking-offset-risks-sitting

Proper Technique: Maintain good posture and form while walking by keeping your head up, relaxing your neck and shoulders, swinging your arms naturally, engaging your core, and rolling your foot from heel to toe.

Planning Your Routine: Equip yourself with appropriate footwear and clothing, and choose a safe walking path. Start with a warm-up, cool down, and stretching. Consider using activity trackers or apps to monitor your progress.

Setting Realistic Goals: Set achievable goals for your walks, gradually increasing their duration or intensity as you progress.

Tracking Progress: Keep a record of your steps, distance, and time to measure your improvement over time.

Staying Motivated: Maintain motivation by starting with small, achievable goals, finding convenient times to walk, making it enjoyable, varying your routes, and not giving up even if you miss some days. Walking can lead you to better health.

15 Ways to Include More Steps in Your Day:

1. Walk instead of driving short distances.
2. Take frequent Walk breaks and move around.
3. Take the stairs, whenever possible.
4. Park farther away from your destination.
5. Choose face-to-face conversations, over emails.
6. Walk & talk – take that business call while you walk,
7. Walk after a meal.
8. Use walking as a stress-reliever.
9. Clear your head with a walk.
10. Go for family walks or hikes.
11. Walk while waiting for appointments.
12. Find friends who enjoy walking.
13. Keep track of your steps with a fitness tracker.
14. Set hourly walking reminders on your phone or computer
15. Walk your dog or volunteer to walk dogs.

Related Links:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/walking/art-20046261

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/5-surprising-benefits-of-walking