Do You Know Walking Daily Can Help Lose Weight?

Do You Know Walking Daily Can Boost Your Immune, Help Lose Weight?

Walking is something we do every day, yeah? So, getting you to walk in order to get some health benefits from it shouldn’t be a problem I believe.

Asides from just being a means of getting you from one point to another, walking is a form of exercise that can help you keep fit, lose weight, de-stress and fight off certain health conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and the likes.

So, like every other thing in life, if you are going to experience the super amazing benefits that come with walking, then you’ve got to be really intentional about it. I mean, you can’t expect to walk a 5 minutes walk or 0.5 km and expect to enjoy the benefits. No, it definitely doesn’t work that way.

Anyway, let’s discuss these benefits and how to get your walking habit right on a daily basis.

What’s the right way to walk?

Except you’ve got some kind of leg injury, which are probably yet to recover from, you need to walk briskly (not a casual stroll) and work your body completely every day for at least 30 minutes.

Keep a record of how many steps you take, the distance you walk and how long it takes can help you see where you started from and serve as a source of inspiration. You can actually use an electronic device such as a pedometer to calculate steps and distance.

Also, try to make walking enjoyable by doing it with a friend or you can listen to music while walking (but be sure to stay off the road when you do this).

ALSO READ: Simple Everyday Exercises That Can Help You Keep Fit

What are the benefits of walking

1. Aids Weight loss

Surprised at this? Well, it’s true.

Walking is a form of physical exercise and doing it consistently and the right way can help you burn out the extra calories, plus an added advantage of well-toned thighs and body.

Note that the longer you walk with an increasing pace, the more calories you lose.

2. It improves your heart health

According to Irish scientists, they reported that walking is the best exercise for sedentary individuals, especially adults, to reduce the risk of heart and cardiovascular diseases.

Try to walk at least 3 hours weekly to keep heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases away from you.

3. It boosts immune function

According to a study of over 1,000 men and women found that those who walked at least 20 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, had 43% fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less. And if they did get sick, it was for a shorter duration, and their symptoms were milder.

4. Regulates blood pressure

A research from Wakayama Medical College, Japan included an experiment on individuals with mild hypertension, where 83 participants walked 10,000 steps per day for 12 weeks. At the end of 12 weeks, they showed a significant drop in blood pressure and increased stamina.

Of course, you don’t necessarily have to walk 10,000 steps a day to achieve this same result but consistently walking an average of 30 minutes, at a good pace (mostly fast) a day as earlier said can help increase your stamina and regulate your blood pressure.

5. It eases joints pain

Because walking protects the joints (especially the knees and hips, which are most susceptible to osteoarthritis; by lubricating them and strengthening the muscles that support them), it only makes sense that it will help east joint and arthritis-related pain.

The benefits of walking aren’t limited to these few but these should, however, motivate you to begin your daily walk routine.