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Guest Blogger
The exercise of walking has often fallen by the wayside, shadowed by popular Crossfit enthusiasts and hill runners. However, these days, a daily stroll outside is returning to its rightful place on top of the workout hierarchy.
Walking outdoors is an excellent exercise choice for people who haven’t had time to train hard, are recovering from an injury, or are just starting out on their fitness journey – but also boasts amazing strengthening benefits for the body and mind.
Would you like to feel stronger than you ever have and lower your risks common health problems by up to 40 percent? Discover the following reasons why you should start hitting the pavement on a good old walk.
- It tones your muscles.
Few activities can beat a walk when it comes to working on your legs. Your glutes, thigh muscles, hamstrings, and quads will thank you if you regularly take them for a walk. Put some hills into the mix, and maybe a trip to the park to work out your upper body and abdomen with a set of push ups and sit ups, and you’ll feel the strongest and fittest you ever have.
A great thing about walking is that it contributes to muscle development without over-taxing your bones and joints. While running can result in shin splints and hip pain, especially if done on a treadmill inside the gym, walking outside exercises the bodies in a comfortable, healthy way.
- It strengthens your feet.
Connect with your primal instincts and kick off your shoes. Walking outdoors is excellent for strengthening the muscles and bones in your feet, especially if you do it barefoot. Shoes have been proven to weaken and to deform the feet – which makes it important that children in the formative stages of skeletal development experience the feeling of the ground under their bare feet.
3. It improves your mental health.
Strength isn’t just physical. In these times of hustle, bustle, and technological immersion, we can begin to lose our sense of balance – or worse still, our sense of unique self.
Walking helps to combat the biological and psychological effects of stress and anxiety by releasing chemicals called endorphins that lift your mood. Going for a brief morning walk to prepare you for the day, or getting outside for a breather as night falls to release any tension is guaranteed to have you feeling ready to deal with whatever comes next.
Creative people will also experience an added benefit while walking: researchers have proven that putting one foot after the other for at least 30 minutes a day enhances your creative output twofold. Writer’s block, too.
- It strengthens your heart.
You might have been told that running is the fastest route to improved heart health. More great news, however, is that recent studies have proven walking to be just as beneficial for your heart. Both running and walking significantly lower the risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as warding against diabetes.
Since a moderate-intensity walk yields as many benefits as a high-intensity run, it’s good to know that either activity will help you maintain a healthy, strong heart.
- It improves balance.
Because walking strengthens the legs and feet – the parts of the body that root people to the ground – it has the added benefit of improving stability. If you’re approaching your older years or know a senior who struggles with their balance, walking can be a great way to reclaim some equilibrium and strengthen those weight-bearing limbs.
