![]() ![]() All of those buttons on the treadmill are there for a reason, and it’s time you start hitting a few of them. The power of an effective walking workout lies in your hands - literally. You can’t set the treadmill at 3.5 and zone out for an hour and expect to see major results. Starting to think your neighbor who walks around the block every morning is on to something? How to get the most out of your walking workout Plus, psychologists studying how exercise relieves anxiety and depression also suggest that a 10-minute walk may be just as good as a 45-minute workout when it comes to relieving the symptoms of anxiety and boosting mood. Walking has also been shown to improve memory and prevent the deterioration of brain tissue as we age. Walking in nature, specifically, was found to reduce ruminating over negative experiences, which increases activity in the brain associated with negative emotions and raises risk of depression. ![]() One study found that just 12 minutes of walking resulted in an increase in joviality, vigor, attentiveness and self- confidence versus the same time spent sitting. The act of walking is also a proven mood booster. According to the study, “walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.”īut it’s not only your creativity that will benefit from the mental lift. Researchers labelled this type of creativity “divergent thinking,” which they define as a thought process used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. One Stanford University study found that walking increased creative output by an average of 60 percent. While the physical benefits are notable, the mental boost that can be gleaned from adding a walk to your daily routine may be more immediate. Past studies have supported this notion, finding that a daily walk can reduce the risk of stroke in both men and women, reduce the days spent in a hospital each year and can even lower your risk of death by up to 39 percent (when compared with no leisure-time physical activity).Ī study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that those who adhered to a walking program showed significant improvements in blood pressure, slowing of resting heart rate, reduction of body fat and body weight, reduced cholesterol, improved depression scores with better quality of life and increased measures of endurance. Great news for those of us that dread going on a jog. ![]() Which means when it comes to some pretty prominent markers of our health, walking at a moderate intensity can get the job done just as well as running, as long as you’re expending the same amount of energy. When comparing the results of the most recent National Runners’ Health Study with the National Walkers’ Health Study, researchers found that the energy used for moderate-intensity walking and vigorous-intensity running resulted in similar reductions in risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease over the study’s six year period. “Walking improves fitness, cardiac health, alleviates depression and fatigue, improves mood, creates less stress on joints and reduces pain, can prevent weight gain, reduce risk for cancer and chronic disease, improve endurance, circulation, and posture, and the list goes on…” “There are many reasons to walk for exercise,” says Ann Green, M.S., past heptathlon world athlete, yoga teacher and fitness studio owner. Walking is a lower impact exercise and can be done for longer periods of time.”Īnd there is no shortage of scientific research to back up the effectiveness of adding walking to your fitness routine. For example, those with knee, ankle and back problems and also for people who are overweight to obese. “In fact, walking is the suggested workout over running for many people. As a lifelong track athlete, who has marveled at race walkers (check out the Olympic walkers on YouTube!), I don’t scoff at walking,” says Ford. “With that being said, walking is a really good form of exercise and can help you reach your fitness and weight-loss goals. “Running, due to larger muscle recruitment, greater forces exerted and faster motion capability, will always have the proverbial leg up on walking."īut while walking may not be a better workout, it may be a better exercise choice for some people. In fairness, the two really shouldn’t be compared against each other,” says John Ford, certified exercise physiologist, who runs JKF Fitness & Health in New York City. “While I would love to say that walking can be just as effective of a workout as running, I’m not going to lie to you. ![]()
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