Walking is one of the simplest, easiest and fun ways to stay healthy and lose weight. It is ideal for people of all age group, who want to stay active and fit without much effort.
Sunita Pathania - Sr. Registered Dietician and Diabetes Educator, Healthy Living Diet Clinic, Mumbai, lists down various benefits offered by steady walking. So skip your two wheelers, wear your pedometer and begin your journey to good health and healthy life with each step.
# 1: Promotes heart health
Walking regularly can help to ward off the biggest killer - heart disease. People who walk regularly have a lowered risk of developing heart disease. Besides, regular walking also helps people to recover faster from heart attacks and bypass surgery and thus, lowers their risk of suffering another heart attack.
# 2: Promotes sexual health
Brisk walking everyday can improve your performance in between the sheets, with your partner. Walking helps to boost blood circulation and thus cuts down impotency.
# 3: Gives you a healthy body
If you want to stay fit and don't have time to do some physical activity, then walk during your spare time. Regular walking is the simplest way to stay fit.
# 4: It is an aerobic form of fitness
Regular walking is also a form of aerobic exercise; this helps to lift your mood, makes you physically fit and improves your health.
# 5: It heals your body
Regular walking will make you feel good, as it helps to heal your body and make it healthy. It helps to improve our biological health, physical health, psychosocial health and emotional health.
# 6: Reduces blood pressure
Physical activity like walking helps to reduce high blood pressure among patients. As high blood pressure is a 'silent killer', one must walk regularly to stay off from this problem. Walking helps to improve the blood flow thus increases available oxygen to the muscles, which makes the blood vessels more relaxed and helps to lower the pressure.
# 7: Promotes bone health
Walking helps to increase your bone density and slows down bone loss in your body. This simple exercise is very effective for your spine, legs and hips.
# 8: Lowers diabetes risk
Regular walking helps to improve the BMI level in people with diabetes and allows efficient use of glucose by the muscle, which means proper utilisation of insulin in the body and helps to improve blood sugar level.
# 9: Kills depression
Walking helps to boost your mood and helps prevent depression. Besides, people who walk regularly can fight depression more effectively.
# 10: Increases alertness
This simple aerobic exercise also helps to improve your mind alertness. Walking improves circulation and availability of oxygen to the brain, thus increasing alertness. Another reason for mental alertness is the release of chemicals like adrenaline, which is discharged due to walking.
# 11: Improves sleep
Walking helps to boost your daytime energy, this helps in providing longer and sounder sleep. If you want good sleep, schedule your walk much before your sleep time.
# 12: Kills stress
Walking promotes mental well-being, by killing all your tensions and stress. If you feel stressed, go outdoors and walk, the combination of movement and fresh air will instantly boost your mood and make you relax.
# 13: Prevent miscarriages
Walking during pregnancy helps to reduce fatigue and various other pregnancy related problems. It also helps to lose weight easily and lowers the risk of gestational diabetes. Walking can also prevent abortions.
# 14: Reduces body fat
Walking helps you to maintain a healthy weight. Walking approximately 5,000 steps a day helps to lower body fat and overall weight.
# 15: Builds stamina
Maintaining a regular pace of walking, helps to improve muscle strength and endurance, it also helps to build stamina among individuals.
# 16: Rejuvenates yourself
Walking is a very good booster to your min and body. It helps to rejuvenate yourself by reducing stress, anxiety and depression and helps you to kick back in life with a positive factor. Walking completely rejuvenates by charging your mood and making you energetic.
# 17: Increases longevity
Walking regularly helps to add years to your life. More importantly, it can keep you fit by preventing, various age-related conditions such as osteoarthritis etc.
# 18: Tones your body
A good walk can help strengthen and shape your legs; it also gives great definition to calves, quads, hamstrings and lifting your glutes. However, walking straight and upright also helps to your abs and whittles your waist, too.
# 19: Boosts immune system
Walking keeps various illnesses like cold, cough and flu away by boosting your immune system.
# 20: Reduces bad cholesterol
A simple walk down the lane also helps to reduce the bad cholesterol and increases the good cholesterol in the body, thus promoting heart health. Walking helps to burn almost 300 calories per day, this significantly helps to lower bad cholesterol.
