The Power of Walking
If you could choose only one form of exercise, sport or physical activity as the best choice to maintain physical health – what would it be?
How about walking? Or even better – walking outside.
Walking used to be our natural way of getting from one place to another. But nowadays we are frequently aiming to reduce it or completely avoid it. How often have you seen people parking as close as possible to the door of the gym, only to go and walk half an hour on the treadmill inside : )
Whilst treadmill walking is of course better than nothing – the benefits of walking outside far exceed it. We use different muscles when we walk outside and we get the additional health benefits of fresh air and sunshine (remember that Vitamin D!).
So why walking?
It is fairly safe and low impact
It improves circulation
It strengthens lower limbs
It has the lowest ‘drop out’ rate of any form of physical activity
It is easy to do, no special equipment is required
It can be combined with listening to music or a podcast, or catching up with friends
10,000 steps, 60 years ago
For the last decades, doctors and physicians have prescribed a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity or 10,000 steps a day to maintain good health. But did you know where the 10,000 steps a day originated from?
In 1960s Japan, Dr.Yoshiro Hatano was researching how to keep Japanese people fit and active in the wake of imported American culture that was becoming increasingly popular. He believed the American culture would lead to a more sedentary lifestyle and set about researching how best to keep people on the right track to staying fit. His conclusion was the now infamous goal of 10,000 steps a day. In the run up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, one company produced an early version of a pedometer and the marketing success of the 10,000 steps a day regime was born.
If you are one of the millions already doing the 10,000 steps a day challenge, you can of course incorporate this daily habit of 30 mins walking into that goal.
Try these variations to get the most out of your 30 mins.
Break up your 30 mins in to 3 x 10 min sessions of ‘brisk’ walking. Your heart rate will go up and you will have more muscle activity – let your lungs do some work!
Uphill walking – a challenge for most of us but daily life for people living in the mountains. Find a route with an incline to build up the intensity of your walk
Take your family and friends – share the benefits of walking with others and catch up on your social life at the same time
Walk in nature – it will lower cortisol concentration (i.e. stress levels), pulse rate and blood pressure and reduce ‘technostress’
Make it a habit !
Plan your walk into your day. Park further away, leave the car behind sometimes, swap a lunch date for a stroll, challenge the kids to a 10 min brisk walk etc. In fact, go for a walk right now and whilst you are walking think creatively about how you can fit more walks in to your day.