If you actually list the benefits that walking as an exercise offers, you will be astounded. Lower blood pressure levels, reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, enhanceded lung capacity, reduced risk of depression and even a lower risk of certain forms of cancer. Add in weight loss, increased energy, and generally feeling better and the list of benefits is truly amazing.
Considering the fact that walking can be slotted into your daily schedule whenever it suits you, and the fact that you don’t need to pay any gym membership fees, you might start to wonder why more people don’t include walking as a key part of their exercise activity. Another point worth remembering is that all you need to get started is a decent pair of comfortable shoes – there’s no need for any special equipment, expertise or training.
Maybe some people may be omitting walking from their exercise plan simply due to the fact that they are unaware of the potential benefits. Maybe it’s a bit of a “no pain no gain” mentality which makes it hard for people to understand that a low impact, low injury workout like walking can really provide so many health benefits.
The evidence is clear and unambiguous. Walking has the potential to provide many health benefits. Consistency is the critical thing here – low impact exercise taken on a regular basis should be the target. It should, ideally, become a standard activity in your daily routine.
There are any number of ways to do this. Maybe you could leave the car in the garage and walk to the office? Use the stairs instead of the elevator every second time. Go for a ten or fifteen minute walk during your lunch break. Small changes can have a huge positive impact if carried out routinely.
It may even be that the fact that so little effort is needed is a part of the problem. For some people, the idea of getting so many benefits for so little effort may be, quite literally, incredible. If you find yourself thinking along those lines then the use of an Omron pedometer to monitor your progress may well be something that could help to convince you. Keep track of your progress by recording the number of steps you take on a daily basis – or convert this into distance walked or calories burned – whatever is most relevant and interesting for you.
It should quickly become cleat that relatively minor changes to your daily routine – walking instead of taking the car every now and again – can have a major beneficial impact on your health and fitness. Raising the visibility of your walking workout benefits may well be all the encouragement that is necessary to ensure that you exercise daily and reap the rewards available to you in terms of health, fitness and general well being.
You could also increase the effectiveness of your walking to lose weight routine by using the latest fitness footwear. Reebok, Skechers and Fit flops sandals all offer a range of training shoes which is specially designed to increase the amount of work done by your lower body muscles whilst walking normally.
