Top 5 reasons why you should walk more

Posted on Dec 01, 2008 by Andrew in General Health & Fitness, Uncategorized, Weight Loss .

In my quest for health and fitness knowledge, I’ve come across suggestions from some of the most intuitive minds in the field. I’ve heard every suggestion in the book on how to get in shape. And some of the time, you can believe that I heard one person say that something is great for you while another person argued the opposite! With the health and fitness world set up for differing opinions, there is one suggestion that seems to ring true from every fitness expert… and that is that we should all walk more! So here are the top 5 reasons on WHY you should walk more:

1. It’s the oldest exercise on the planet!

Many fitness experts have outlined how our nomadic ancestors used to roam from place to place in search of animals to eat. No expert has revolved their health and fitness mantras around this topic more so than Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple and his Primal Blueprint:

“We know that our ancestors spent an average of several hours each day moving about at what todayâ€™s exercise physiologists might describe as a â€œlow level aerobic pace.â€ They hunted, gathered, foraged, wandered, scouted, migrated, climbed and crawled. This low level of activity prompted their genes to build a stronger capillary (blood vessel) network to fuel each muscle cell, to be able to store some excess food as fat, but also to be readily able to convert the stored fat back into energy.”

One can very easily make the argument that our bone structure in fact adapted to this constant walking about, hence why walking benefits us in so many great ways!

2. It’s the quickest way to a healthier heart!

According to an article in CNN Health:

“…more than 910,000 Americans still die of heart disease annually…”

Whether or not it is the number one killer in the U.S., it’s always at the top end of the list and it can be drastically reduced! This is what the American Heart Association has to say about it:

“Walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity. Itâ€™s the simplest positive change you can make to effectively improve your heart health.”

It’s the simplest positive change you can make in your life, so take charge of it!

3. It’s the best exercise for reversing obesity!

While it’s important to note that the number one way to reverse obesity is to address the issue of a person’s diet, when it comes to the number one way a person can begin to reverse obesity in regards to physical activity, walking is numero uno! I could quote a thousand scholarly journals and experts who would all say the same thing here, and they’re all right! Like this study in the Journal of Obesity which found that:

“Increasing daily steps were associated with a decline in the obesity measures.”

In fact, let’s go straight to the top here and check out what The Surgeon General has to say about it:

“You don’t need special skills or training to be physically active. Walking is a great way to be active.”

You can check it out yourself… it’s the number one recommendation for “activating yourself” provided by The Surgeon General!! And that brings me to number 4…

4. It’s the easiest, cheapest form of exercising!

Walking is the easiest form of physical exercise on the planet! That means you can walk with your friend who doesn’t like playing basketball, football, soccer or any other sport. Even better, some people don’t have the physical ability to do those high intensity activities, so walking is the answer.

Here’s what Good Housekeeping has to say about how easy it is to walk in order to slim down:

“Easy? Check. Cost-free? Check. Gets real results…that really last? Check, check. Well, what more could you want from a slim-down plan â€” except that it be flexible enough to fit into your busy schedule? Okay, this one does that, too.”

Simple, easy, fun, walking is awesome!

5. You can add walking to any activity!

Whether it’s walking while shopping, walking while sightseeing, walking at an amusement park, etc., walking can be added to just about every activity you can think of!

I can already hear the gears working in the wiseguys reading this post… “What about swimming? You can’t add walking to swimming!” Well guess what buddy? Some people even hold onto a rock and walk at the bottom of a pool for exercise! (please don’t try that one at home, just be happy that it is an option!!).

The point is, every American needs to take a cue from our European friends and begin to incorporate walking into our daily life.

Also, you can improve your soul while walking. A good start would be looking into your local “walk for a cure”, especially the walk to cure Diabetes. That’s like killing three birds with one stone: exercise, philanthropy and helping to cure one of the biggest epidemics in our society today!

If you’d like to make a commitment to start walking more, you can do so in the comments section and myself, along with the rest of the Go Healthy Go Fit faithful will happily hold you to it!!

photos provided by flickr user mdezemery and mdezemery

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Tags: fitness, health, is walking good for you?, Nutrition, top 5 reasons why you should walk more, why walking is the best exercise

11 Responses to “Top 5 reasons why you should walk more”

Son of Grok

Dec 01, 2008

5:39 pm

I love walking. I spend my lunch hour at work walking laps around the building. I calculated that I walk about 4 miles during this time. It isn’t just exercise, it is my “moment of zen” in the middle of the day. It helps me clear my head and I get a dose of sun and vitamin D.

The SoG

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MizFit

Dec 01, 2008

6:07 pm

I walk to the park.
unless I dont. and drive.

duly noted I should walk more…I know I should and yet I find excuses (the stroller gets so freakin heavy to push. I need to think of it as weight training)…

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Andrew

Dec 01, 2008

6:10 pm

Hey SoG,

I hear you on the moment of zen. Since I work out at night, I don’t get the added benefits of vitamin D sun rays, but I try to get a little during the day otherwise!

Thanks for the comment!

All the Best,

Andrew

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Andrew

Dec 01, 2008

6:13 pm

Hey Miz,

I do the same thing. Well, not the stroller, but I will make excuses as to why it’s more convenient to drive and then skip the walk… but that’s why we’ve all just got to remember why it’s SO great for us!

Thanks for the comment!

All the Best,

Andrew

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Tom Parker - Free Fitness Tips

Dec 01, 2008

10:11 pm

I do quite a lot of walking at the moment because I don’t have a car and you make a lot of good points in your article. However, I don’t enjoy walking that much. When I walk I just want to get to my destination quicker so usually do a moderate jog. Plus, as I have mentioned in my previous comments it’s so cold in the UK at the moment that spending long periods outdoors is also not my favourite thing to do at this time of year.

Tom

P.S. Love the final photo in your article.

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Andrew

Dec 01, 2008

10:24 pm

Hey Tom,

Thanks! It felt that way too, but once I started just thinking about life, I really started enjoying the walk!

All the Best,

Andrew

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Son of Grok

Dec 02, 2008

7:34 am

Tom,
Walking is a great time to just let your mind wander but if you need something to force your mind to wander, an mp3 player is a great tool for a walk. Just focus on jamming out and less on the destination.

The SoG

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tuscanystone

Dec 02, 2008

9:24 am

Hey Tom…haha! You’re not a Londoner are you?? I don’t get too much pleasure from walking either! Well, unless I’m on a beach! Being in London if you walk you just inhale exhaust fumes and look at concrete, let alone have to contend with the weather - hardly exciting! Mind you, I do walk more in the summer

Hence hiring a treadmill/elliptical. At least on that I can listen to music/watch tele without the additional pollutants!

Tusc

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Tom Parker - Free Fitness Tips

Dec 02, 2008

1:53 pm

Hey Son of Grok - Maybe it’s just the winter getting me down I do find walking a lot more bearable with a few rays.

Hey Tusc - No I’m a Mancunian. The fumes aren’t too bad up here but the weather is :-(. I agree with you on the summer walking. As I said to Son of Grok it is a lot more enjoyable when the weather is nice outside.

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