The Benefits of Walking

Walking is a fundamental part of life. Walking is one of the easiest ways to exercise. We learn from when we are very small and it’s our primary means of movement. However what most people don’t realize is that it’s the simplest most effective ways to exercise. Strength training, weight lifting, and plyometrics they all help to strengthen the body, build muscle and burn fat but walking can do all of these things too. By walking at the right speed for a certain amount of time and distance you will burn calories, strengthen your muscles, promote coordination and balance and keep your body healthy. rnThere are so many benefits of walking both physical and mental. Walking is a low impact aerobic exercise that doesn’t require practice (because we have been doing it ever since we learned how to walk as a baby) and can be used as your main source of exercise or can supplement your existing exercise regiment. rnWalking is gentle, safe, simple and effective at losing or maintaining weight. Brisk walking will increase your heart rate and breathing causing you to break a sweat, which will control your weight and is less likely to lead to injury than other types of exercise. Walking puts less stress on the joints than say running or jogging and it uses every muscle in the body. The benefits of walking go beyond strengthening muscles, burning calories, and losing weight. Walking helps to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, raise HDL (good) cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes, reduce the risk for heart disease and heart attack, and controls blood sugar. It is also good to boost the immune system, stimulate brain function, improve blood circulation, improve mood, help relaxation and decrease depression.