SPRING INTO STEP.
Now is the time to spring into step and walk off the winter blues. Longer days offer more opportunity to get out and enjoy fresh air.
Walking is a great simple, free and easy way to get more active, revive energy, lose weight, and become healthier. It is also a great way to boost your mental well -being.
The minimum recommendation from doctors to keep your body healthy and prevent illness such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes is 150 minutes of activity a week…..that is just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week or chunks of ten or fifteen minutes at a time if you like.
As well as enhancing your health, walking also improves self-perception, self-esteem, mood and sleep quality, it also reduces stress, anxiety and fatigue. Physically active people have up to a 30% reduced risk of becoming depressed, and staying active helps those who are depressed recover.
Being physically active significantly reduces the risk of several major health conditions by between 20% and 60%, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. It also helps you maintain a healthy weight, improves cholesterol levels, reduces blood pressure, builds healthy muscles and bones, increases lung capacity, improves balance and reduces the risk of falls.
In the older generation staying active can improve cognitive function, memory, attention and processing speed, and reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
A 10 minute stroll can instantly boost your energy by increasing your circulation and reduce tension and stress. Concentrate on walking upright so your lungs can completely fill.
For a slightly more active walk both for the brain as well as the body try changing direction and walking forwards, backwards and sideways. This will help keep your mind alert, use different muscle groups and burn more calories.
Using walking poles can boost calorie usage further and get your arms and core working.
A 30 minute walk can boost energy levels by 85%.
Source: www.prevention.com
Walking for health