Benefits of walking.

Ordinary walking means many benefits for your health: it is a prevention of many chronic diseases and, without exaggeration, it can prolong your life. Anyone can walk, anytime and at any age. The undeniable plus is that such a brisk walk will easily fit into your daily routine and you do not need any special equipment. And I almost forgot: do you know that walking is easy and elegant to lose weight? 

1. You will be in a better mood.

Walking has a positive effect on your mental health. Studies show that it helps reduce the symptoms of anxiety or depression. Hand on heart: at least we are currently in a bad mood. Put on your shoes and go outside for a while. Combine that with a coffee stop at your favorite coffee shop. Even on a normal day, you can easily integrate walking: walk on the way to or from work. The feeling of a clear head is worth it, believe me.

To benefit from these benefits, take a brisk half-hour walk at least 3 times a week.

2. You will burn more calories and lose weight more easily.

Is your goal to maintain weight or lose weight, but is popular running yet beyond your strength, or has it not grown to your heart? Bet on walking. It's a nice and painless way to get more exercise into your life. The advantage is that you burn energy almost exclusively from fats, you do not run out so much and you do not strain your joints.

Walking doesn't burn a lot of calories, but you can do it for a long time. The energy expenditure during walking is approximate as follows (60 minutes of walking, man 80 kg, woman 65 kg):

Walking pace (4 km / h): woman about 195 kcal, man about 240 kcal

Trip (5 km / h): a woman about 230 kcal, man about 280 kcal

Speedway (7 km / h): female about 325 kcal, male about 400 kcal

How many calories you actually burn depends on many factors. These include pace, distance, terrain, or weight.

3. Walking will help strengthen and shape the leg muscles.

To immerse yourself even more and build strength, choose rugged terrain or add a slope if you walk on a treadmill. Ignore the elevators and escalators and enjoy each step with pleasure. 

For a greater effect, add strength training: in home conditions, resistance rubbers will help. Believe that your squats or lunges will have new grades. Au.

4. Strengthen immunity.

Do you go for walks regularly? Then believe that you can strengthen your immune system and only a rhyme will not come to you.

The study looked at about 1,000 people who recorded the frequency of physical activity and respiratory manifestations. The activity to be recorded was to last at least 20 minutes and the whole group was divided into 3 tertiles according to the frequency of movement from ≤1x, 1–4x, or ≥5x per week. Not surprisingly, those who moved the most were the least ill, and when they got sick, they also had milder manifestations.

Therefore, try to walk to or from work. Are you currently working at home office? Plan a walk, for example, after lunch. You will avoid the typical attenuation and you will see that it will burn you more when you return. 

5. Kick digestion.

Do you suffer from digestive problems? In addition to enough fiber (30 g / day) and a sufficient drinking regime (30-45 ml / kg), do not forget to exercise.

If you are struggling with constipation, exercise and physical activity is a simple and effective solution. And this applies not only to this unpleasant condition but also to your healthy digestion. Physical activity will support the peristalsis (movement) of the intestines and thus the digestion will pass through the gastrointestinal tract more quickly. So walking seems like an ideal helper. Incorporate it into your lifestyle and you will see that your digestion, including defecation, will tread like clockwork.

6. You will support prevention and prolong your life.

If you go for a half-hour walk five times a week, you will reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 19%. Do you manage to include walking in your program every day? Then you will benefit even more from the benefits.

Walking has similarly positive effects on type 2 diabetes. In a small study, participants took a short walk (15 minutes) after each main meal. An interesting conclusion is that the effect on blood sugar levels was greater than during one longer walk. However, this finding needs to be further investigated.

7. You do not need any extra equipment.

You really don't need anything at all to start walking regularly. If you want to upgrade the walk and get a little wet, sports shoes and clothes will suffice, which you probably own. So there's nothing stopping you at all.

Alternate routes, terrains and discover the beauty of the surroundings. To avoid injury, be sure to stretch before and after. A sports watch can also be a good motivation, which will help you improve your estimate of how many steps you take about a day. Awaken your competitiveness and bet on something tempting, for example with a friend, about who will miss more in a week or a month. I believe that you will do everything to win.

What to take from it?

Walking is a great way to get more exercise into your life right now. We would hardly look for any negatives in it. We can all walk, regardless of the current form, and we don't need anything special. Maybe you, with the coming spring, feel the need to move more and maybe lose some pounds, but you don't feel like running yet. There is nothing easier than to start with brisk walks, from which you can gradually go for a run.