Why you should do walking exercise
If you haven’t exercised in a while, and you’re looking for something easy to exercise daily, you should give walking a try.
Let me remind you of some of the amazing reasons why we should start walking exercise.
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#1. Walking is the perfect low impact exercise
Because it gives less strain to your joints and has less injury risk compared to other exercises. Yet, it is effective for our cardiovascular system and burns our calories.
#2. Affordable exercise for everyone
You don’t need any special equipment to do walking exercise. You only need a good pair of trainers, and a willingness to do it 😄.
#3. You can do walking anywhere
When the weather is nice and dry, you can walk outdoors and get some fresh air at the same time you exercise your body. You can stroll around your neighborhood, or around your local park.
If the weather is not very good, or you don’t find it convenient and comfortable to walk outside, you can do walking exercise indoors. You can just head to your local shopping mall, and walk around the shops there.
You can also hop on a treadmill if you have the equipment. Or you can watch YouTube videos and do walking exercises indoors. There are many videos that you can access, this one is my favorite.
#4. You can start from any fitness level you’re at
If you haven’t done any exercise for a long time, you may want to start by going for a 10 or 15-minute walk.
But if you’re already in great shape, walking can still provide an effective workout. All you have to do is increase the intensity by walking faster and including some hills and even stairs.
#5. Walking exercise is fun
When you walk outdoors, you can mix your walking routes through different areas of town, or visit different parks. So you get to see and appreciate different sceneries as well.
If you do it at home, you can do walking exercise while you’re watching your favorite TV series. You can just get up from your comfy sofa during the commercial breaks, and march in place until the show comes back. This way you won’t miss your TV program, and you still keep your walking exercise.
#6. You can get social
You can invite a friend to join your walk. Because it’s always nice to have someone to talk to. And having a walking buddy can keep you accountable at the same time you’re being social.
But if you have to walk alone, you can always take your phone or MP3 player with you, so that you can listen to music, a podcast or audiobook as you’re walking.
#7. A walking exercise gives you fresh air and sunshine
When you do it outdoors, walking will make you feel better as your body gets the fresh air and sunshine. Both are important for your health and well-being, aren’t they?
You will find the air quality outside is much better than the air inside your house. Especially if you go for a walk where there are lots of trees such as parks, or at a beach. And don’t forget, the sunshine outside will help your body absorb all the Vitamin D it needs 😉.
#8. Walking can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy Weight
Walking, particularly at a quick pace and doing it regularly, can help you get to a healthy weight. And it can help you maintain it as well.
Of course, you still need to watch what you eat and aim for a healthy diet. But walking can help you drop those extra pounds a little bit faster.
The nice thing about walking when you’re overweight is that you burn a lot of calories, even if you do it on short and slow walks.
#9. Walking improves your sense of balance and coordination
As you walk, you may have to go through rougher terrain, where you need to work on your sense of balance and coordination. But when you get in the habit of a daily walk, you can improve your sense of balance by moving your head around.
Turn your head to the right and left as you walk for a count of 30. Then move your head up and down for a count of 30. If you do these simple exercises once or twice as you walk each day you’ll get even more benefit.
#10. A walking exercise strengthens your bones and muscles
Even though walking is a low impact form of exercise, it can help to strengthen and tone your body. If you’re just starting to do exercise, walking is all you need to start to get into better shape.
#11. A walking exercise will boost your mood and fight depression
Just like any other exercise, walking releases endorphins that help lift your mood e.g. when you feel down due to homesickness. It can also reduce depression. I used to walk a lot to fight my baby-blues.
So, give walking a try the next time you’re feeling tired, or are in a bad mood. Just lace up your sneakers, and go for a brisk walk. I promise you’ll feel much better after the walk.
#12. A walking exercise can help lower your blood pressure and strengthen your heart
Of all health benefits that walking exercise has, the ability to help lower your blood pressure and to strengthen your heart may be the most important ones.
Because, nowadays, many people are at risk of stroke and heart disease, due to the overweight problem.
If you’re suffering from high blood pressure, or are at risk for heart disease, you should discuss a walking exercise plan with your doctor. So that you can come up with a plan that’s appropriate and safe for you. To help you strengthen your heart by doing walking exercise.
As you go for a brisk walk, your heart muscles work out more than your leg muscles. It means that your heart gets stronger and better at pumping blood through your body.
Start a walking plan
After you see so many benefits and good reasons for you to start walking exercise, now it is time for you to start a walking plan.
#1. Decide which fitness level you are at
If you think you can only cope for 15-30 minutes at a time, then go for it. Just like anything, the key here is consistency. So make sure you schedule yourself for 15 minutes walking every day.
When you start, you don’t have to go crazy by walking too fast. Go easy on yourself. You can build your speed and challenge as time goes by and your body gets used to the exercise.
#2. Set which time of the day you want to do it
You should decide when you can do walking in a day. Is it in the morning or afternoon? Some people even prefer to do it in the evening.
Once decided, you can stick to your plan and hold yourself accountable. No matter how hectic your daily life can be. You surely can spend 15 minutes every day, by swapping the time you normally spend on social media?😃
#3. Decide how far you want to walk
In general, 2,000-3,000 steps equal to one mile. And when you just start walking, you may want to do it for a few miles initially. If you have a fitness-tracker or a tracking app on your smartphone, you can use it to track your walking steps/distance.
As you become more used to this exercise, you can increase your steps/distance to 3-5 miles at a time.
#4. Set a target
To encourage you, even more, you should set a target for your exercise. It can be something like losing weight.
Because you CAN lose weight simply by doing walking exercise. I’ve done that myself when I tried to shed off my baby fat after giving birth to my sons.
Final notes on why you should do walking exercise
We all know that our health is so precious. It takes efforts to look after our health, and it is better to prevent it from any issues. One of the best advice to do so is to exercise.
And walking exercise is the most affordable form of exercise to do. Yet, many people don’t do it for so many reasons.
So if you’re one of those who haven’t started, go on then, put your comfortable shoes on and get yourself walking. Soon, you will reap all its health benefits for free.
All the best.
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These points are so true, I think so many people forget that a walk a day can make so much difference! Even if you cant walk for long, moving just a little is better than nothing!
Yup. People often forget that walking is the easiest yet the most affordable exercise to do.
I try to get out walking as much as possible. Even if I don’t manage to get out, I always manage to do some walking on the school run
Agree. School run can help us catching up in walking. If you do brisk walk, 10 minutes walk is good enough.
Walking is really good for everyone, I’m in total agreement. I’ve been increasing my daily walks as I want to increase my stamina, tone up more and lose a little weight.
Way to go girl. You’ll achieve all those fab benefits soon 😉
I REALLY need to start getting some exercise. Working from home is a nightmare. I have gotten so lazy!
You’re not the only one my dear. I’m as guilty at times. But I guess if we can spare 10-20 minutes in a day to walk briskly, it should be good enough.
Walking is such an important activity! It definitely does help with your physical health but your mental health as well.
Yes, it is indeed
We always walk to school and it really sets me up for the day (unless I get soaked LOL)
Lol. Me too. School runs have become my minimum exercise. Coz if I walk briskly, 20 minutes of school run does lift me up.
I’m trying to do more walking as all of these points are so true and it’s an easy form of exercise that you can anywhere at any time x
Go girl. You’ll be fitter and healthier just by walking 😘
Walking is probably one of my favourite activities – especially if it’s a beautiful location like the woods
Me too. Walking is so easy to do yet very beneficial 😊.