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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;
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- 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.
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Walking
for Exercise - Just Start 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.
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- 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.
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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.
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Related
Articles
Benefits
of Warming up and Cooling Down
Make sure you warm up and cool down before and after your walk.
Exercise 4 Weight Loss
2 Achieve Fitness and Health
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