Walking to a Healthier Lifestyle

I reckon pretty much everyone can walk. You learn to walk from around 9 months. Lets say 12 months average – so by the age of 10, you will have been walking for 9 years. Thats a lot really – and considering walking is our main mode of small transportation (think around the home, at school, at the mall etc) we probably rack up a huge number of miles out of necessity. Then there’s our parents and grandparents who used to walk ‘5 miles to school and back’ on an average day.

Walking is pretty easy for the average person. We don’t even think about it! We wake up, we get up, we walk to the bathroom/kitchen/wardrobe…. walk around the house getting ready for work, walk out the door, sometimes walk to work – or the busstop, but what I’m trying to say is walking is part of every day life – we don’t even think about it. Apparently the average person takes between 8000 and 10000 steps per day. On average this adds up to about 115,000 miles in a lifetime. That is around 4 times the circumference of the planet! That is without really thinking about it!

So, does the current walking from room to room, shop to shop and car to work keep you fit? Didn’t think so. Did you know, if your average amount of steps is 8000, and you increase your daily amount by 20%, you’re almost up to 10000 steps. If every step is on average 2ft, that would be an extra 3200ft a day. Thats more than an extra half a mile. So if before you were doing 3 miles, an extra 20% of walking is about 3.7 miles.

3 miles a day isn’t bad – but that extra 0.7 miles is what will make a difference. I’m talking about making walking a thing of effort – putting a little brain into it. So, say in your lunch time – go for a walk around the block, or the mall. It will make a difference! Park a little further away from your office. Take the stairs instead of the lift. When taking the kids to preschool, push the pram instead of taking the car. If you take the bus, get off a stop early. When you get home, or before you go to work, go for a quick walk around the block. Every little bit makes a difference!

So why walk? Well, walking is easy. Its accessible. Its fun. It can be enjoyed with lots of people – your kids, your parents, your grandparents. You can walk down the street or around the mall. You can take a short hike through the local national park. You can go on a multi-day trip through a national park! Walking doesn’t need to be tough. But walking counts. It is an aerobic exercise. You can decide on the pace – all that matters is the consistency of it. In so many ways walking is better than running – you can enjoy the view, it will take a lot longer for your feet to start hurting, and there is a relatively low impact on your joints.

But there are some other reasons walking is a great form of exercise…

It lowers cholestorol.

Walking controls blood pressure.

Reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer and stroke.

Reduces risk of hip fracture and need for gallstone surgery.

So – walk a little more every day. It won’t cost you anything more than a bit of time. Better yet, invest in a pedometer so you can track your progress easier and walk your way to a healthier lifestyle!

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Walking it out: Can you reach your fitness goals just by walking?

Walking is one of the most popular forms of exercise known to man.  Sure, most people who do it will not call it ‘exercise’, it’s just a way to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’, but right from the start of human history it has never waned from being a truly effective way to spend your exercise time.

If you are aiming towards sustainable healthy lifestyle you should definitely consider walking as part of your standard exercise routine.

One of the big advantages of walking is that you’ll never ever get to old to do it.  Whether you’ve just recovered from pneumonia or a heart attack, walking is still the exercise of choice by doctors and fitness experts alike.  Time and time again you will read about elderly men and women reaching their 90s or 100s and they will accredit their extraordinary levels of health to healthy eating and a daily walk.

In fact my grandfather turned 93 this month.  To be honest he doesn’t eat the healthiest of diets (think cream, butter etc) but he does consistently go for a walk every day.  He has done as much as possible since he was enlisted in the army during World War II.

The reason I am emphasizing this, is that walking is the most sustainable fitness exercise around.  You can start walking when you’re 1 or 2 years old, and can continue walking until you die.  The same cannot be said of any other exercise except perhaps for swimming (he only problem with swimming is that it cannot be done anywhere – you have to live near a beach or have access to a swimming pool).

That brings me to my next point, walking can be done absolutely anywhere and at whatever time you like.

Walking is obviously not the most rigorous of exercises known to man.  If you’re looking to get as ripped as you can then it’s probably not the best thing to base your workouts on.  Walking however, can be great for you mentally and spiritually, as well as physically.

When you go for a walk you can enjoy fresh air whilst having all the time in the world to think over all that has happened that day, week or month.  If you are lucky enough to be near a park or the countryside you can enjoy time away from the hustle and bustle of the 21st century working life, and just take time out to appreciate the natural creation around us.  It’s so easy to get caught up in things that do not matter; having a daily walk can be a great way to not only keep your body healthy, but your mind also.

Do yourself a favor and go on a decent walk today.

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