Why has the world population chosen to walk as one of her preferred ways to be healthy?
We all know doing exercise is pretty good for our health. There are too many ways to be healthy and the simplest way is just walking. It is a simple activity, easy to stick with, safe and low cost. Some people are not used to run, or maybe you have had an injury and can`t run anymore.
Walking at a lively pace at least 150 minutes a week can help you:
- Prevent weight gain.
- Improve your blood pressure, blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels.
- Boost bone strength and reduce your risk of osteoporosis.
- Reduce your risk of serious diseases like heart disease, stroke, diabetes and several types of cancer.
- Improve your mental and emotional well-being and and reduce risk of depression.
- Improve memory and reduce your risk of dementia.
- Think, feel and sleep better.
- Increase your energy and stamina.
Maybe you can think 150 minutes a week sounds like a lot. It all depends on your previous shape. If you are out of shape, the key is to start with short distances, perhaps 10 to 15 minutes a day and gradually increase your time.
Ways to Be Healthy: Make Walking a Habit!
A good way of walking more everyday is making walking a habit. There are many ways to include walking in your daily routine. For example, you can walk to the shops, the kids to school, part of your journey to work,..
You may also add variety to your walks. That doesn’t mean you have to travel to the countryside to find a rewarding walk. You can find interesting walks in towns and cities in parks, riverside paths, commons, heritage trails, woodlands, canal towpaths, heaths and nature reserves.
Ways to be healthy and make friends: if you walk in a group you will find new friends and stay more motivated, so it will be easier to start walking.
Before you take a serious walk, it is important to stretch to warm up and stretch again to cool down afterwards. You have to start out at a slow pace, and slow down toward the end of your walk as well.
A good idea is to begin with routes that fit with your shape, and then extend your distances as you improve. You can do the same with your pace; begin reasonably and then increase your speed as your shape gets better.
Once you are in the right shape, and in order to get the benefits of running, you will have to walk for longer periods, get out more often, or both.
You can follow these recommendations on ways to be healthy with your walk:
How to walk for fitness?
–The best way to enjoy your exercise is wearing comfortable clothes and supportive shoes. As exercise raises your body’s temperature is important to keep your cool by layering clothing.
–If you’re out of shape, begin with short distances. Start with a 10-15 minutes stroll and gradually increase your time or distance.
–Keep your head lifted, shoulders relaxed and abs engaged. Swing your arms naturally.
–At first, forget about speed. If you can’t catch your breath or talk while walking, it is better to slow down.
–To warm up, the first several minutes walk at an easy pace. Then, gradually increase your speed.
–You can add challenge and variety by walking one block fast, two blocks slow and repeat several times. In order to increase muscle tone and burn more calories, you can walk hills or stairs.
–And the last step of your walk is stretching, since your body is warmed up. Stretch your hamstrings, calves, chest, shoulders and back. Hold each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds.
Turn your walk into a full body workout!
If you want to turn your walk into a full body workout, you may add to your strolls Fitness Hand Weights for Walking. They are ergonomically designed to work with your natural body movement. You also tone and tighten the upper muscles of the body while strengthening the core.
These weights have a unique L shape that work the triceps and tone the arms while walking. Swinging the arm in a normal walking motion also strengthens the shoulders, upper back and core for a full-body, joint-friendly workout. The weights have padded handles for comfort and adjustable hook-and-loop fasteners that secure around the wrists to prevent squeezing and fatigue hand muscles.
Fitness Hand Weights for Walking are great for men and women of all ages and fitness level. The burden to joints is reduced ergonomically by the design which you get of the balance. Low weight is comfortable for long walks. Users control intensity of workout, simply pump arms harder to increase resistance and for a harder workout.
The velcro straps for the wrists prevent squeezing and fatiguing hand muscles.
A piece of technology to control your walk
You may also add an extra piece of tech, a Sports Waterproof Smart Bracelet. A fitness tracker is a device that looks like a watch or bracelet. It measures your steps, your heart rate and your general levels of activity and uses this information to calculate and track a range of other things, like how many calories you have burned.
For many people, exercise is more rewarding when they can see numbers telling them how well they are doing. They get more excited about hitting a specific target, like 10,000 steps per day.
Air Flow Technology
Another item you can add to your strolls, if you are a woman of course, is an Ultra Air Flow Technology Sports Bra. These bras are ideal for athletes because of the comfort, softness and flexibility they provide. They fit perfectly to the body and provide great support.
Air Flow Technology Sports Bra allows skin to perspire when doing exercise, keeping body temperature stable. You can wear it any time, even at night, being invisible under your clothes.
We may finish by saying that although for some people walking may not be a better workout, it may be a better exercise choice for some people. Walking is the suggested workout over running for many people; those with knee, ankle and back problems and also for people who are overweight to obese. We have to take into account that walking is a lower impact exercise and can be done for longer periods of time.
Ways to be Healthy: Walking is a simple and natural activity. It doesn’t require any instruction or skill. You can do it as a very modest form of exercise or as if you were training for an Olympic sport. You can also choose to walk alone for solitude or with friends for companionship. And what is best, you can get all the benefits of moderate exercise with a very low risk of injury.
