5 benefits of walking

5 Benefits of walking. We all want a body that will perform well, now and into our later years.  If you ask yourself how you would like to be living your life in your 70’s, 80’s or 90’s, I’m sure the answer would be healthily and actively.  You don’t look forward to becoming unhealthy, less mobile, or more unstable!   No one wants a decline in their ability to move around easily.  This is unfortunately what happens in a lot of cases.  For those of us with arthritic conditions this becomes of paramount importance because we are already on the decline in regards to our mobility and need to do all we can to slow this progress down.

This post will look into 5 of the many benefits walking can bring to your life.

Strengthen your body

Walking is one way to help strengthen your body.  When you walk your muscles in your legs and your abdominals become more toned.  This is incredibly important as you age because after the age of 30 you can lose up to 5% of muscle mass per decade!  Less muscle means more pressure on your joints, weakness and less mobility.  This then leads to an increased risk of falls which can lead to fractures.

Walking can also stop the loss of bone mass.  This is extra important if you have arthritis.  Losing bone density is a natural part of ageing and of course exercise is not the only factor in helping this but it is a huge part of it.  The NHS website advocates for all physical activity to help with making your bones stronger.  Walking is among these and by far the easiest and one that most people can do very easily.

Another bonus is that when you walk you are unknowingly lubricating the joint area of your hips, knees, ankles and even your elbows if you swing them about too!  You are compressing and releasing the joint which helps to bring nourishing oxygen to them.  This means that you are “oiling” those joints and all of the complicated structure around them.  This consists of cartlidge, ligaments and tendons.  We don’t want these to become stiff and lack flexibility as this will cause unnecessary injury.

Lighten your mood

Walking is amazing at making you feel better too. There are lots of reasons that walking can help to lift your mood.  Having a break from the monotony of a normal day can do wonders for mood lifting.  So can having time to yourself to check in and take stock.  Or using the time to catch up with friends. How about the benefits of catching some rays and boosting your vitamin D levels?  Not to mention the added benefit of a psychological boost with the knowledge that you are doing something good for yourself and your wellbeing.

Walking will boost the production of endorphins; these wonderful hormones make us feel happier.  In turn this will reduce the stress hormones too.  Researchers have even found that this change in hormones can help with depression.

To boost this further, try walking in green spaces.  This will not only do all of the above but will also relax and calm the mind.  It doesn’t have to mean the forest or a coastline.  It could be woodland, a hiking trail or even a field!

All of this said it is so important just to get out.  Research has shown that after the age of 70, getting out of the house daily is associated with a lower mortality risk!  Therefore it must be beneficial for everyone under that age too.

Improve your sleep

Walking regularly can improve your sleep duration and quality.  Everyone can appreciate the problems associated with bad sleep.  Everyone has experienced it and it can play havoc with daily functioning.  When you add a chronic illness to the mix, you have a problem.  A lot of chronic illness sufferers have chronic fatigue too.  This can be debilitating, so making sure your sleep is restful is so important.  Exercise, like walking can boost the effect of the natural sleep hormones such as melatonin.  Helping you get more restful sound sleep.

You would be excused for thinking that you have to do a high intensity workout to become physically tired enough to need more sleep.  However, when you add walking to your routine, even if it’s just a 20 minute stroll, you will naturally be more tired due to the extra exertion.  Studies also claim that getting your walk in in the morning in the bright daylight will help the natural circadian rhythm.

Strengthen your heart

The biggest global killer right now is heart disease.  We need to really start thinking about our heart health.  If you are reading this and are relatively young and/or fit and healthy you may think that this is something you do not need to worry about for some time.  This unfortunately is not the case at all.  As I explained in a previous post (you can read it here) your heart starts to display problems in childhood.  Then of course lifestyle and diet come into play.  If you look after yourself through eating well and keeping active, the chances of you become unwell with heart problems are reduced.  We cannot become blasé about it, as it isn’t always a problem at all until it’s too late; there are not always clear warning signs that something untoward is going to happen.

Think of it this way.  Do you know anyone who has had a heart attack or heart problems?  I know plenty; some are not healthy at all.  A lot of people do not look after themselves as much as they probably think they do.  Some however seem pretty healthy but still have problems!  Why?  Maybe the answer lies in analysing your lifestyle and diet, and really being honest with yourself.

Waking is a great way to help.  We have to stay active even if we find it hard or we don’t feel like it.  The consequences are far too awful to contemplate.  It is about consistency not fads that fade as quickly as they came.  Of course the boost of exercise you are doing because of a new motivation will be beneficial to your health, especially with weight loss.  However it is the active lifestyle that we are looking for longevity of health.  The lifestyle where you don’t have to push yourself too much because it is already a habit.  Already in your routine.  That is where the greatest benefits lie.

Improve digestion

A well-functioning digestive system is something everyone would like.  It may be a bit uncomfortable to talk about but it is so important.  How many of you have a digestive system that is perfect?  I bet the answer is none.  It is so important to be in tune with your body and to know what aggravates it.  We all have something that doesn’t always agree with us, whether that is a common problem like a lot of people have with gluten or a rarer one like with me and mushrooms!  Everyone has something that doesn’t agree with them, but are you consciously aware of it?  A lot of people just accept that stomach ache or bout of diarrhea without questioning why. 

If you have an autoimmune disease, a lot of the food you eat will be hindering your health and how you feel.  So being more aware will be so beneficial.  After all, what was it that Hippocrates said?  “All disease begins in the gut”!  I think he may have had a point.

Walking can aid digestion.  Even if it is a gentle walk.  It will get everything moving in the right direction so to speak.  This is because of the core muscles that we have to engage while walking.  In fact a physiotherapist at Cancer treatment centres of America stated that one of the first things they do with patients who need abdominal surgery is to get them to walk, as it encourages movement in our digestive systems.

I hope you will agree after reading this that walking is so important to be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle.  In fact as a bonus benefit (although this really has been the theme throughout, if you hadn’t noticed) is that walking can actually help you live longer.  According to the researchers of people who live in the blue zones, people who get out and are more physically active live longer healthier lives.  This has to be a big incentive for everyone of any age, after all, the idea is to live young as late as possible.

Wishing you all health and happiness

Laura x