5 reasons why you need to start walking today

Walking is just beneficial for your health.

“Walking impacts various systems in the body, so it provides a lot of excellent advantages,” says James N. Robinson, MD, a sports medicine specialist at New York City’s Hospital for Special Surgery.

Despite its minimal impact, walking is considered a moderately strenuous aerobic activity if done at a pace that allows you to converse but makes singing difficult, which means it works your cardiovascular system.

Dr. Robinson recommends that people walk at a tempo that raises their heart rate somewhat. You should be a bit out of breath but not entirely.

In addition to being an aerobic exercise, walking strengthens the muscles in your legs, as well as your core, which has the job of holding you upright as you step, says Robinson.

1. Walking helps you live longer

According to Robinson, aim for 150 minutes of this sort of walking every week, spread out across various days (but not all at once). This is consistent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (PDF), which advises 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week for adults (or about 30 minutes, five days a week).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it’s also fine to divide it up into smaller bits throughout the day (CDC). For example, you may take three 10-minute walks throughout the day. Simply said, king is excellent for your health.

“Being active improves practically every aspect of the body, including the brain, muscles, bones, cardiovascular system, kidneys, and lungs,” says Amanda Paluch, PhD, a physical activity epidemiologist and kinesiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the study’s lead author.

Walking, she explains, is a fantastic way to get that movement in. “More walking can help avoid many chronic illnesses that cause premature mortality.” There is no one medicine that can replace physical exercise, such as walking.”

2. Walking Can strengthen your Bones

Walking is a weight-bearing activity (meaning you conduct it standing with your bones supporting your weight), therefore it may help retain bone health and maybe reduce osteoporosis risk, according to Robinson. (Walking, he adds, also increases core strength, enhancing stability and balance to help prevent falls as you age.)

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons suggests starting with a 10-minute brisk walk three times each day to enhance bone strength in your legs and spine.

Robinson recommends combining walking with a strength-training regimen for the most bone benefits.

3. Walking Lifts your mood

Take a walk when you’re feeling depressed. Remember the hashtag #stupidwalkchallenge? It works — and you don’t even have to travel far. In a 2018 research published in Health Promotion Perspectives, young people who conducted a 10-minute session of brisk walking had their mood improve, especially when it came to feelings of exhaustion, as compared to a control group that was merely advised to sit.

keeping track of your steps, vitals and distance gives you a great sense of achievement, you can do that with any smart band from the market such as fitbit or mi band.

Getting up and moving helps you shake off feelings of low energy, which can contribute to a general sensation of depression. An earlier study by the same authors, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 2017, found that even five minutes of walking could boost mood and reduce depressive symptoms.

4. Walking is great for weight loss

If you want to lose weight, remember that you don’t have to engage in a severe fitness regimen (unless that’s the sort of activity you want).

According to research published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2017, persons who had a calorie-reduced diet and walked for 2.5 hours per week for 12 weeks had lower fasting insulin levels and higher fat reduction as compared to those who only calorie restricted. (Both groups dropped around 8% of their body weight, which means they lost the same amount of weight, but those who added walking to a calorie-controlled diet lost more fat, which is the sort of weight you want to lose.)

If you want to lose weight, remember that you don’t have to engage in a severe fitness regimen (unless that’s the sort of activity you want).

5. Walking makes your heart stronger

Walking on a daily basis will work your heart, lowering your cholesterol significantly. According to the CDC, high cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease, and lowering total cholesterol levels by 10% can reduce your risk of heart disease by approximately one-third. Walking can assist you in doing this.

According to the American Journal of Health Promotion, adopting a walking program for at least four weeks (but making no other purposeful behavior adjustments) helped women who were overweight or obese reduce total cholesterol and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by roughly 7 mg/dL.