Walking Strengthens Your Bones And Offers Other Health Benefits You Should Know!
There are a lot of good reasons to go for a walk. It’s fun, it’s relaxing, and most important it’s good for your health. One of my favorite things to do for exercise is to walk with a friend and catch up on her life. It makes the walk go so fast, taking the pain out of exercise!
So what exactly are the health benefits of walking? I hope this article convinces you that heading out for a walk each day is a great idea and that it motivates you to stick to your walking schedule until you start to see results. I need the motivation as much as you do. Guess I better call a friend!
Walking Gets You Outside In The Fresh Air and Sunshine.
Yes the sun is good for you. Just don’t forget your sunscreen.
No matter how fast or slow you walk, walking gets you outside and in the fresh air. This alone will make you feel better as your body absorbs the oxygen and sunshine. Both are important for your health and well-being.
You will find the air quality outside, particularly if you go for a walk on the beach or in a park, will be much better than the air inside your house. Of course, the sunshine outside will help your body product all the Vitamin D it needs.
Walking Can Help You Get To And Maintain A Healthy Weight.
This is proven – as long as you aren’t eating more calories than you need (most of the time).
Walking particularly at a quick pace and doing it regularly can help you get to and then maintain a healthy weight. Yes, you still need to watch what you eat and aim for a healthy diet, but walking can be another tool to help you drop those extra pounds.
The nice thing about walking when you’re overweight is that you burn a lot of calories, even on short and slow walks, simply because you’re carrying so much weight around with you. As you start to lose the weight, your overall strength and endurance increases, allowing you to walk longer, further, and faster.
Walking Improves Your Sense Of Balance And Coordination.
It can be more of a challenge as you grow older, but really is good for any age.
As you walk, particularly when walking over rougher terrain, you’re also working on your sense of balance and coordination. Just getting in the habit of going for a daily walk will help. But you can work even more on your sense of balance by moving your head around. Turn your head to the right and left as you walk for a count of 30. Then move your head up and down for a count of 30. If you do these simple exercises once or twice as you walk each day you’ll get even more benefit.
Walking Strengthens Your Bones and Muscles.
Here we are at the title of this article and such an important thing to consider, again, for all ages. If we keep our bones and muscles healthy, we are going to have less pain and be able to stay more active. That’s a simple statement, but for those living with daily, chronic, pain – it’s huge!
Even though walking is a low impact form of exercise it helps to strengthen and tone your body. If you’re just starting out, it is all you need to start to get into better shape. As you get more fit, consider adding weight lifting exercises in addition to your daily walks to continue to get stronger and help develop strong muscles and bones.
Walking Will Boost Your Mood and Fight Depression.
There’s a lot of stress, anxiety and depression in our world today, and that is sad. Something as simple as walking can help change that. If you know someone who is challenged with any of these in his or her life right now, call and suggest a walk. It will benefit both of you!
Last but not least, the exercise of walking releases endorphins that will help lift your mood and can even reduce depression. These endorphins can completely change your mood, and isn’t so much more fun to be happy and have a little more energy than sad and/or tired. I hope you will give walking every day a try. If it’s spring, summer or even fall right now, no excuses. Get out there and walk! Winter can be more challenging if it is snowy or icy or just too cold. In that case, find an indoor place to walk so that you don’t get out of the routine of daily walking.
Did You Know:
Two natural supplements that can help your bone health are Calcium and Vitamin D.