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Walking Exercise Benefits for Health

Brisk walking can help prevent heart disease and maintain a healthy weight. Follow this 9 step guide and get all the health benefits from a daily walk.

BENEFITS OF WALKING: Find out what happens to your body on walking daily as part of a fitness exercise program.

The weight of starting a rigorous exercise regime is enough to put some people off altogether.

Most people need a little nudge for gym work. This is particularly true when it comes to hard physical exercise.

But, there are some simple steps to improve your body health and fitness. Medical experts say walking is the way to go. Every stride provides your body with healthy benefits – from the head down to the toes.

This 9 step guide to the wonders of walking also highlights what happens in the timeline of taking a brisk stroll.


9 Body Health Benefits When You Walk

1. Walking Burns Body Fat

Much like a car, your body stores energy inside fuel tanks. One tank holds all the fatty acids and the other contains carbohydrates.

High intensity exercise uses carbs. But, exercising at low intensity helps your body to burn fat for extra energy. Walking gets considered as a low-intensity exercise. That means walking exercise is ideal for efficient fat-burning.

Around 80% of energy gets fueled by body fat when you walk. The other 20% comes from carbohydrates. A study by a University of Tennessee showed women who walk for exercise have less body fat than those who do not walk.

2. Walking Strengthens Bones

Human bones are living tissues. Bone tissue usually responds to exercise by increasing in bone density. Walking encourages muscle tugging on leg bones which stimulates the reproduction of bone cells.

As a rule our bone mass peaks by the time we reach 30 years old. Bones naturally begin to get thinner as we get older. Osteoporosis is a bone degeneration condition. Having a low bone mass creates weakness for fractures and broken bones.

A study in Massachusetts showed post-menopausal women who walk daily for 30 minutes reduce their risk of hip fracture. In many cases they saw a 40 percent reduction.

3. A Good Walk Makes You Feel Happy

Stress-free walking exercise releases endorphins. These are the body’s feel-good hormones.

Endorphins are potent chemicals acting as natural antidepressants. They heighten sensations of public well-being and pleasure. Releasing endorphins can also relieve mild pain and promote healthy relaxation.

4. Take a Walk for a Healthy Heart

Almost all aerobic activity raises your heart rate, including walking exercise. Physical activity encourages blood flow back to the heart.

Strolling helps strengthen the heart muscle and lower cholesterol. That often results in less pumping which means the heart can rest between beats. When blood pressure eases it lowers the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

5. Go for a Walk and Get Smarter

Experts say that exercising enhances brain memory. It can speed up blood flow and supply the brain with lots of healthy oxygen. So walking heightens its capacity to code, and then process, mental information.

The hippocampus is the region of the brain involved in learning. Walking exercise can stimulate nerve cells in your hippocampus. That in turn can sharpen your ability to think.

6. Walking Exercise Promotes Deep Sleep

Melatonin is the sleep hormone. Whereas, the relaxation hormone is serotonin. A good walk can enhance all the effects of melatonin and trigger the production serotonin. A stiff saunter also helps to evaporate the stress hormones.

As a rule exercise will raise your body temperature. The drop in temperature, as it lowers following exercise, primes you for a restful slumber.

7. Walkers Sculpt Muscles

Ambulation tones your leg and abdominal muscle mass. That in turn will help to raise your metabolic rate. As the chronology of brisk walking shows, metabolism is the speed your body burns calories.

Taking a regular stroll also nourishes cartilage. That is the cushioning tissue between the ends of bones. A rich supply of nutrients and oxygen to cartilage cells helps prevent arthritic deterioration.

8. Walk to Live Longer

Hospital data shows that regular walking promotes longevity in life. The analysis found that you can attain 7 minutes of extra life for every minute of exercise.

So there you have it! If public health matters to you then go for a stroll and get all the benefits of walking. A daily jaunt can help preserve your precious bones. Going for a good walk on a regular basis guards against disease and illness.

9. Walking Reduces the Risk of Diseases

Physical activity decreases the likelihood of you developing cancer, diabetes, and stroke. Walking can boost your immunity and hormone function. These biological mechanisms help your body guard against, and ward off, diseases and illnesses.

  • Regular exercise helps your body process sugar efficiently and so it can help with diabetes prevention.
  • The National Cancer Institute say people who exercise regularly have a 50% lower risk of colon cancer.
  • Women exercising moderately for at least 3 hours a week have a 40% reduced risk of getting breast cancer.
  • Medical professionals say sedentary individuals have a 20% higher risk of stroke than people who exercise 4 times each week.
  • Our brains shrink as we age. Brain atrophy occurs when there is a reduction in nerve cells and brain volume. Being obese, smoking, having diabetes, or high blood pressure all exacerbate the problem.

Walking improves circulations and helps shield you from cognitive impairment. The more you walk the less likely you are to incur dementia.


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Benefits of Walking Daily in the United Kingdom