Choose your footwear well.
You have already seen that walking is a great exercise for health, but do not do it in any way. You must wear proper footwear. These are the secrets of suitable footwear that respect the needs of your feet:
Toes: they require at least 5 mm of space inside the shoe to avoid blisters, hardness and deformation.
Sole: the footwear must be flexible to allow the natural movement of the foot. Otherwise, there will be painful tensions and compensations.
Heel: it is the area that receives the most significant impact. Try to keep it soft and avoid shoes with more than 12 mm of unevenness. It may be a good idea to wear cushioned insoles in this area. You will find them in sports stores.
Arch: This region of the foot is your natural shock absorber. The arch should be marked and stable in the template.
Achilles tendon: can suffer if the height of the heel is less than 8 mm.
And a study of 299 adults, published in the journal Neurology in 2010, found that walking was associated with increased gray matter volume in the brain, a measure of brain health.
5. Decreases stress and improves mood. Like other types of aerobic exercise, walking, especially in open spaces, stimulates the production of neurotransmitters in the brain (such as endorphins) that help improve your mental state.
6. Longer life. In a review of studies published in 2014 in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, researchers found that walking approximately 3 hours a week was associated with an 11% lower risk of premature death than those who performed little or no time. No activity.
And it’s never too late to reap the benefits of walking: A small 2013 study in the journal Maturitas found that older people with an average age of 80 who walked only four times a week were less likely to die within ten years of study follow-up compared to those who walked the least.
Walk for health
Experts agree that any amount of walking is good for you, but you need to log walks of certain miles and increase the intensity to get the maximum benefits.
The minimum prescription for good health is walking 30 minutes at a moderate intensity, five days a week. “More is better, but you can get a significant portion of the health benefits of walking even with that moderate amount,” says Sallis.
Here are research-backed ways to incorporate more steps each day, as well as get the most out of every step you take.
1. Walk as much as you can. The University of Warwick study compared people with at least one sign of metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors for heart disease (high blood pressure, fat around the waist, high blood sugar, and high levels of triglycerides and cholesterol), with people without risk factors. They found that those who did the minor activity had a more significant number of risk factors. Those who walked the most (accumulating at least 15,000 steps per day) had a healthy BMI, smaller waists, less cholesterol, and lower blood pressure better blood sugar control.
Many people are aiming for a daily goal of 10,000 steps (or about 5 miles), and now they have the backing of an emerging fitness-tracking device industry, but that magic number didn’t originate from scientific research. ” for the first time in a Japanese marketing effort associated with one of the first commercial pedometers. ” The device was called “mango-Kei,” which means “10,000 step meter” in Japanese.
“The 10,000 step goal is considered to be a realistic minimum number, and it’s good, but for total risk reduction, people should aim for more,” says William Tighe, MD, Ph.D., physician and public health researcher at the University of Warwick and lead author of the study showing that 15,000 steps per day can lead to more incredible benefits. “In our study, those who took an additional 5,000 steps had no risk factors for metabolic syndrome.”
Improve your sex life.
Sex and exercise go hand in hand. In a study of women between the ages of 45 and 55, those who exercised, including walking, reported not only more sexual desire but also more incredible sexual satisfaction.
Increases Vitamin D levels.
Walking in daylight increases the body’s vitamin D levels – a nutrient that is difficult to obtain from food but can be synthesized through exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D plays aspect is very important in many ways, from bone health to immune system health. While it is true that protecting yourself from the sun’s rays is essential, experts agree that exposing your skin to the sun, frequently but without burning, will help produce enough vitamin D.
