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Walking for Exercise

Benefit of Walking as Exercise

Walking for exercise gives you many benefits, more than just helping to lose weight.

Some of these benefits include;

Stronger Heart. Walking strengthens the heart. Studies show that the mortality rate in retired men who walked less than a mile per day were almost double that of men who walked more than two miles per day.

Similar for women, one study showed that walking for exercise three or more hours per week reduced their risk of a heart attack by 35% compared to women who did not walk.
Strong bones, strong body. For women who are postmenopausal, studies show that walking for exercise can improve your bone density.

Women who walked about one mile each day showed higher whole-body bone density than women who walked less. Walking can also help slow the rate of bone loss from the legs.
Brain Power. You can improve your cognitive functions by simply walking one and half hours per week.
Ease Depression symptoms. Walking can help ease symptoms of depression as well. Taking a 30 minute walk three to five times a week helps minimize depression symptoms.

So walking really is good for the heart, body, mind and soul. Additionally, walking can reduce the risks of certain diseases like type 2 diabetes and certain cancers like breast and colon cancer.

And of course, walking promotes fitness. So get all the benefits of walking as exercise so you can lose weight, have a healthier heart, body, mind and soul.

Walking for Exercise - Just Start Walking

woman walking

Did you know that walking is actually an Olympic sport? Neither did I until I started researching the benefit of walking. The Olympic sport of walking, known as racewalking, actually has specific techniques and rules that must be followed.

What we do typically is called power walking. Of course there is the leisure walk that you may do with your kids or while taking a stroll through the park.

Even the leisure walk is good for stress relief and staying fit. But to really go for the calorie burn and weight loss, you will want to do a power walk.

Walking for Exercise - Power Walking Techniques

Although power walking is not an Olympic sport, it does require some technique.

Swing your arms as you walk. Keeping your arms at a 90 degree angle, swing your arms back and forth. Keep your hands loose and relaxed. No need to tighten them into a fist. Keep your arms close to the body; don’t cross over across your chest.
Walk with your head up, and make sure your back is straight. Leaning forward or back will slow you down, so keep a straight back. Keep your head up but relaxed and relax your shoulders as well.
Point your toes straight ahead. Don’t walk flat footed. Walk heal to toe for the most benefit of your power walk. Make contact to the ground with your heal and push off with your toes.

Walk with a long, easy stride that doesn't strain you. Don’t overstride as this may cause fatigue and you won’t be able to walk as long. So don’t over lengthen your stride. Keep it at a stride that works for you and try increasing the speed by moving your arms faster. Your legs will follow suit. Rotate your hips as you walk. This technique is why some people don’t like to power walk as it looks a bit funny. But by swinging your hips will help increase the speed.

In addition to just walking for exercise, add some spurts of sprinting with these interval training routines.

Using a treadmill to power walk is a great way to get the hang of it. This way, you can fine tune your power walking techniques from the privacy of your own home before hitting the sidewalks in your neighborhood. Read this article to learn more about treadmill walking for exercise.