rhyshanscombe posted: " The most overlooked, but underrated exercise you can do for your physical and mental health is walking. When you consider the health benefits, enjoyment factors, and the opportunities it can bring, there is no doubt as to why it is the best exercise you "
The most overlooked, but underrated exercise you can do for your physical and mental health is walking. When you consider the health benefits, enjoyment factors, and the opportunities it can bring, there is no doubt as to why it is the best exercise you can do.
You don't need to live like a bodybuilder in the gym for 2 hours a day to lead a happy, fit and healthy lifestyle. All you need is between 30 and 90 minutes per day (which is easy to make time for)!
Benefits of walking
Improve your mental health
Become more in-tune with nature
Reduce stress
Strengthen your heart
Improve muscular endurance
Form of meditation
Ease joint pain
Committing time to walk every day will open a door for you that you didn't even know was there!
How walking helps your mental health
Walking is an escape from the stresses of your everyday life, and an opportunity to be alone with your thoughts whilst moving your body AND being outside with nature. It has helped me boost my productivity and the efficiency of my work (I am writing this having just walked for an hour), and thus prevented probable periods of burnout.
Where is the best place to walk?
Bude, Cornwall, England
There isn't really a "best" place to walk. That's the beauty of this exercise, you can literally do it anywhere you want. From the sandy beaches of California to the beautiful countryside of Wales, the world is your oyster!
If you are looking for some of the best walks near you, here are 10 walks each in the USA and UK respectively.
Choosing what shoes to wear for your walks all depends on your personal preference and the terrain. There are so many options that it can be hard to know what is best for you. I like to wear barefoot shoes (yes, I'm one of those people) for all of my walks. I just like to feel the ground with my feet in every step, plus there are also many benefits to strengthening your feet.
Cushioned shoes tend to be the best for people who are new to walking because (as you can probably tell by their description) they cushion your feet, making the experience a lot more comfortable. The benefits of walking do not change depending on your footwear, so try some different types of footwear out to see what suits you best.
Will walking help you lose weight?
I didn't highlight losing weight as a benefit of walking because that's not realistic. If you are eating 10,000 calories per day, don't expect to lose weight just because you went for a walk. As with any form of exercise, as long as you are in a calorie deficit then you will lose weight. The typical benchmark for step count each day is 10,000. But if that doesn't really suit your lifestyle then that's ok, just get in whatever steps you can. There are ways to increase your fitness even if you have a desk-based job though...
Walking backwards
"100 steps backwards is equal to 1000 steps forward". You may get a few funny looks if you do this but walking backwards actually has so many benefits when it comes to calories burnt, cardio, and even reversing out knee pain (as learnt by kneesovertoesguy). There are so many benefits that you can unlock by just switching the direction in which you walk!
I don't blame you if you put off going for walks due to the sheer boring nature of it. You are just putting one foot in front of the other until you are back to where you started. But there are a lot of ways that you can spice up your walks to make them much more than just putting one foot in front of the other.
Walk with someone else - Although walking by yourself has so many benefits, having someone else with you can also make it fun.
Listen to music or a good podcast - Nothing will make your walk flyby like putting in some earphones and listening to a good podcast or music playlist.
Walk somewhere new - Walking the same route every day can get really boring, why not go a different direction or drive somewhere new to explore?
Walk somewhere that brings back good memories - Going back to where you grew up, or just somewhere that brings back good memories can be great to brining something extra to the walk.
It's amazing how just making a small decision to walk every day can make such a positive change in your life. It doesn't matter whether it's 1 mile or 100 miles, you will reap the endless benefits of the best form of exercise you can do!
No comments:
Post a Comment