While we all understand the importance of exercise, there are plenty of people who don’t understand the full extent of the benefits of walking. Aside from the obvious health benefits of walking, there are also weight loss benefits of walking, and even relaxation benefits of walking.  Not only is there such health and stress relieving benefits of walking, but people can also save some cash. It’s really a win-win situation!

Perhaps you want to get exercise but don’t think you’ll have enough time to join a gym. Or perhaps you want to exercise but don’t want to spend a lot of money. There are numerous reasons that people prefer walking. “The Benefits of Walking” posted by Squidoo provides a full explanation of the benefits of walking.

The Benefits of Walking

The Health Benefits of Walking as Exercise

So what are your reasons for not reaping the health benefits of walking? As daily exercise goes, nothing beats a brisk morning walk for fitness!


Sure, you’ve been trying to exercise daily and mind your fitness level, get back into shape, watch your calories and, maintain a healthy weight and generally watch your health; you may have bought an exercise machine or even joined a gym.

So how come the gym membership has just turned into another bill and the treadmill is serving as a silent butler, with this week’s laundry hanging on it?

The truth is that exercise machines are boring and cost a fortune! Gym memberships are expensive (especially if you’re not using them!)

 

Walking Fitness – An Elusive Goal?

Start pursuing the benefits of walking as exercise

We all live in a society which basically has eradicated any form of natural exercise which could be beneficial to us, especially walking. Think about it: We basically live in our cars! We run our errands by entering drive-through restaurants, post offices and what not. Our whole infrastructure is designed based upon the automobile and we are programmed to use it whenever possible. If you want to exercise you can drive to the gym. How ironic!

However, walking is an exercise most anyone can do. It does not cost anything and does not require special equipment. It is by far the easiest exercise and can be incorporated into any daily routine. You will realize health benefits walking 30 minutes a day, five times a week. 
You can start out slowly, adding a few more minutes to your walking routine every day. It might surprise you how many calories you burn by walking for exercise (To calculate how many calories are burned walking, use the formula below)!

Here are some more easy suggestions on how to exercise at work: Start walking the stairs at work. Take a walk during your lunch hour to relax. Take the dog for a walk. Park at the far end of the store parking lot and walk a little farther.

 

The Health Benefits of Walking Fitness Walking for Health: Fitness through Natural Exercise!

Here’s a list of some walking benefits(in no particular order)

• Benefits your mobility, and increases your energy level
• Decreases your stress level
• Lowers blood pressure and bad cholesterol
• Walking is a low impact exercise and minimizes joint stress
• Helps prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, heart attack and stroke
• Benefits healthy weight maintenance
• Relieves back pain and arthritis
• Improves your sleep
• Walking benefits your sense of well-being
• It is a motivator, a “gateway exercise”; it gets your blood flowing and makes you want to exercise more

Walking regularly vs. occasionally is important to reap the most benefits from a walking fitness routine. It is recommended that you walk at least 30 minutes a day, on five or more days of the week.

 

Benefits of Walking – Relaxation

Nice and Easy…

When walking just to relax, don’t regard your walk as exercise, per se. Unwind and let your mind and body relax!

Enjoy the sights and sounds which surround you. Of course, it would be best if you can walk in a park setting to get the most out of this.

Take the time to take in nature: enjoy the landscape, the sound of wildlife and the fresh smells!
But if you enjoy people watching, a walk down Main St. would be just as good.

One of the benefits of walking is that it releases tension. You’ll slowly let go of anxiety and worries, as you relax into a peaceful walking experience

 

Benefits of Walking – Weight Loss

Can you lose weight by walking for exercise?

Exercise is an important factor with any weight reduction effort. One of the benefits of walking is that it promotes a healthy weight, if done properly. So burn calories by walking!

Walking and weight loss go hand in hand! Walking is probably the safest, natural form of exercise there is. Most effective, when walking to lose weight, is to alternate between intervals of slow, moderate and fast speeds during your walking session. That gives you a good cardio workout that will keep your body burning calories long after you are done walking. This walking technique is called Power Walking.

Don’t forget about warming up if your walk contains strenuous paces to prevent injury while working out.

You might be thinking, “How can I get the benefits of walking without boring myself?” The answer is simple. Get outside. Distract yourself from the exercise that you know you are doing.

If you live in or around Mendon, MA and would like to be distracted by a lot of friendly animals, then please visit us at Southwick’s Zoo. It’s great exercise and you get all the benefits of walking and then some. You’ll be so distracted by all the fun you’re having and the interesting things that you’re seeing, that you won’t even notice all of the benefits of walking that you are getting!