Exercise is not only about muscle size and being fit. There are so many health benefits to walking as an aerobic activity.
1) GI benefits;
Nothing gets your digestive tract moving like doing something simple, like going for a walk. When you move, it gets your poop moving too. Walking can improve the…
strength of your pelvic muscles, along with strengthening your muscles in your abdomen and throughout your body, which makes it easier for a person to have a bowel movement. Walking has known benefits of helping constipation by lowering the time it takes food to move through the large intestine, limiting the amount of water your body absorbs from the stool. Hard, dry stool is hard to eliminate. The less water your body takes from your stool, the easier it is to pass it. Walking also speeds up your heart rate and breathing, which helps stimulate your muscles in your intestines. When our intestinal muscles contract like they are intended to, it helps your body move the poop out quicker. So, the more you exercise/walk, the more you poop.
2) Helps eliminate depression;
Walking may help in the fight against depression. Like any other cardio activity, walking also boosts the production of stress-busting endorphins. Endorphins are powerful chemicals in the brain that make you feel good and energize you. It also reduces the stress hormones and helps alleviate depression. Not only improving your mood but can increase your self-esteem. Walking can also decrease feelings of stress and anxiety. Your brain creates hormones, serotonin, and norepinephrine. These hormones can relieve feelings of depression and stimulates the release of endorphins, which makes a person feel happy.
If you can walk outdoors (weather permitting,) you will get the added benefit of vitamin D from the sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency can not only cause depression but seasonal affective disorder (SAD.)
Going for a walk 30 minutes per day, five days per week has been found to boost energy levels.
Exercise, including walking, is a powerful depression fighter for many reasons. It promotes changes in the brain, which include neural growth, reduced inflammation, and new activity patterns that promote feelings of well-being and calmness. It can also distract you, allowing yourself to find quiet time and break out of the cycle of negative thoughts that feed depression. Walking regularly can improve your mood, making you more likely to stay active.
3) Keeps you trim;
Walking is a great way to take part in aerobic exercise. It not only burns calories, but it can also help burn belly fat. Storing fat around your midsection has been linked to an increased risk of diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It is known that you need to burn more calories than you consume. If you are more physically active, you burn more calories. Regular exercise, like walking, not only helps increase the energy you burn, but it also enables you to build lean muscle, so that you burn more calories, even at rest.
4) Makes you more creative;
What does walking do to the brain? Besides being good exercise, it helps maintain better memory and quicker cognition. Other forms of exercise rarely increase your creative juices to flow as walking does. Walking tends to offer a cognitive pause, something we all need for the creative process. Ideas come to us when we pause our minds. In striving for more creativity, walking tends to help our minds relax and unload. Creative inspiration sometimes seems to come at odd times, while in the shower, or after a good night's sleep. Walking may just offer a cognitive pause and a chance to relax the mind. It can be meditative because each step and swing of the arms creates rhythmic activity. It is similar to meditation in that it keeps your brain in an alpha brainwave state, which is known to be the best state for creative thought.
You've probably often heard that Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple, was known for his “walking” meetings. Anytime he needed to think things through, he'd go for a walk.
Creative thinking not only improves while a person is walking but also shortly afterward. Walking significantly creates higher creativity levels than those who are sedentary.
If you been having difficulty making a decision or feel stuck, go for a walk. It helps improve brain function and allows you to think more clearly. Make sure to carry a small notebook or your phone so that you can record your thoughts. Walking can stimulate your divergent thinking so that you may explore many solutions. Our brains also function better when relaxed. We are also more likely to direct our attention inward to create a solution instead of hyper-focusing and fixating on details we are trying to solve.
5) Better Sleep;
How can walking possibly make you sleep better? Walking has significant capabilities that can boost the effect of natural sleep hormones, such as melatonin. Typically, walking is best to do earlier in the day. If we exercise to close to bedtime, it can be stimulating and cause the opposite reaction. Walking outside and exposing one's self to natural sunlight can also help the natural circadian rhythm.
Walking improves sleep quality by allowing more restful sleep. Physical activity is known to increase the time spent in deep sleep, which is the most restorative sleep phase. Deep sleep helps boost immune function, supports cardiac health, and can control stress and anxiety. It can also increase the duration of your nightly sleep. By walking it requires you to expend energy, and helps you feel more tired and ready for bed in the evening. Regular exercise, like walking, helps reduce our stress levels. Stress is a known factor of loss of sleep, which includes trouble falling asleep and even getting the deep sleep you need.
Walking just 20-30 minutes per day will increase your ZZZ's.
Conclusion;
How can we incorporate more walking into our lifestyle?
1) Make it a habit. Do it consistently for 21 days until it becomes routine.
2) Use a fitness tracker.
3) Ask a friend to join you on your walk.
4) Join or create a neighborhood walking group.
5) Taking your dog for a walk or join a friend who walks their dog.
6) Walk to work, if possible. If not, then walk during your lunch break or park your car further away.
7) Have a walking meeting (like Steve Jobs) with a colleague instead of having a meeting in the office.
8) Walk after your workday with your spouse or kids.
9) Create new walking routes to keep it interesting.
10) Set your alarm 30 minutes earlier to start your day. Get on the treadmill or enjoy a walk outside when it is weather permitting.
The best way to start is just to start. Gradually increase the amount you walk daily. Being physical has tons of benefits. It not only improves your mood, reduces your risk of disease, but it allows you to live a longer, healthier life.
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