(ThyBlackMan.com) Many of us are too busy being busy. Trying to achieve a work-life balance, maintain relationships, all while trying to get adequate sleep, eating healthily, and staying active can be challenging. We all know that the basic to a healthy lifestyle is daily physical activity, but it becomes hard for many to find time to exercise. However, did you know that walking is one of the simplest exercises that can be just as advantageous as strenuous exercise?
A 30-minutes of brisk walking in a day can not just help you to lose weight but can increase your heart and lung fitness, increase your muscle strength, enhance your spinal health, makes your immune system strong, and reduces your stress. Walking can, to a great extent, help in lightening your mood and enhance your breathing.
Furthermore, walking can be done during any time of the day, which is the prime reason, why walking is considered the most convenient exercise for most people.
Due to all these reasons, walking is becoming one of the prime ways to get fit. Whether you are planning to have an active lifestyle or want to kick start your health and fitness goals, walking is the ultimate exercise that you can incorporate into your daily routine.
If all the reasons listed above are not convincing enough, below are a few more surprising health benefits of walking.
Top Health Benefits of Walking Daily
- Enhances Sleep
By walking, you boost the effect of sleep hormones, such as melatonin, and it can help you fall asleep easier and relieve insomnia better than those who walk less often.
- Strengthens Bones and Joints
If you incorporate walking into your routine, you are sure to have the healthiest bones and joints. This is because walking can help maintain cartilage, which can prevent the condition of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
- Lower your risk for Alzheimer’s
Walking regularly can have positive effects on those with mild cognitive impairment. Studies also show states that regular walking helps to increase brain health in those with the starting stages of memory loss.
- Improves Digestion
Walking after your meal aids digestion and helps in preventing constipation, bloating, diarrhea, and gastrointestinal problems. It also reduces the risk of colon cancer.
- Prevents and Manages Diabetes
If you are a diabetic or a pre-diabetic person, or the one who wants to stay away from this chronic disease, walking is the best exercise. It helps in reducing blood sugar levels and enhances insulin production.
- Subdues Your Sweet Cravings
Studies have found that 15 minutes of brisk a day can reduce your cravings for food that are high in sugar. This not just curbs your cravings for sweets, but also lowers your stress levels, which can ultimately lead to weight loss.
6 Creative and Fun Ways to Make Your Daily Walk More Interesting
It’s not difficult to incorporate walking into your daily routine, irrespective of how busy your schedule is. You need to find the motivation to start walking. You spontaneously get motivated when walking becomes a fun activity.
Listed below are six ways to make your daily walking more fun.
- A Walking Challenge
Join with your friends or colleagues for a walking challenge. It does not have to be complicated. Download an app that can track your steps as individuals or as teams. A lot of people love to walk. But they need some motivation to do it. This walking challenge can be a great motivation for them. And do not forget to reward the winners after the challenge.
- Invest In an Activity Monitor
From simple pedometers to high-tech activity monitors, several devices in the market can influence you to walk. Analyze how much you walk on a normal day, and then set realistic goals to gradually increase the number of steps or calories you burn over time. The more the numbers, the more the benefits.
- Invite friends for walks instead of coffee or lunch
You will get to burn calories while building stronger relationships with the people you love. You can also join a live guided walk, where your walking will be guided by music, interaction, and special guests will join the conversation.
- Explore New Places Through Walking
Many people usually walk through the same route. For a change, take up new walking routes and explore different areas nearby. For example, if you generally start walking from home, next time, try to start walking from a friend’s house, or your kids’ school, or a nearby grocery store. While exploring new areas on foot, you will start noticing a lot.
- Park Further Away and Park Once
Always park further away from your destination and walk the remaining way. And while visiting shopping centers, park your car in a central location, and walk to all of the stores. Once your bags are full in between, return to the car to drop them off. In this way, you can get in those extra steps as well as save on your fuel.
- Take work meetings outside
Is your day filled up with tons of business meetings? Avoid a boring indoor meeting and plan a walking meeting. Being outdoors can make you feel fresh, open up new conversations, and enhances your creativity and productivity.
Other Quick Fun Way to Incorporate Walking
- Take your dogs for a walk
- Go window shopping
- Take the stairs
- Walk and talk on the phone
- Join a walking group
- Go on a nature walk
- Take a walk after dinner with your family
- At lunch or during breaks, walk around the parking lot or building
Incorporating walking into your daily routine should not be hard. You can do enough walking if you plan and make simple changes. It all adds up at the end of the day. You need to find out what works for you and stick to it. So what are you waiting for? Commit to walk more and sit less.
Walk your way to good health and wealth!!!
Staff Writer; Charlotte Johnson
Health guru at heart, yet able to touch base on many topics… Feel free to hit me up at; CharlotteJ@ThyBlackMan.com.
