What are the top 10 reasons to walk?
I just wanted to share this Top Ten list with you again from medicinenet.com ... it is a great list and I think that there are times when you just need to look at the facts and give your mind a good reason to get your body working.
This week has been bitterly cold here in Canada and if you need a reason to stay indoors ... sub-zero temperatures will really do the trick. I have been making an effort to get out the door more often in a day and walk a little more than my 30 minutes so having this handy list to read through definitely helps to silence my fitness rebel ... for a little while any way. :)
It doesn't matter whether you walk for 10 minutes at a time or if your pace is slow you just have to walk to get huge physical and mental health benefits.
1. Walking prevents type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Prevention Program showed that walking 150 minutes per week and losing just 7% of your body weight (12-15 pounds) can reduce your risk of diabetes by 58%.
2. Walking strengthens your heart if you're male. In one study, mortality rates among retired men who walked less than one mile per day were nearly twice that among those who walked more than two miles per day.
3. Walking strengthens your heart if you're female. Women in the Nurse's Health Study (72,488 female nurses) who walked three hours or more per week reduced their risk of a heart attack or other coronary event by 35% compared with women who did not walk.
4. Walking is good for your brain. In a study on walking and cognitive function, researchers found that women who walked the equivalent of an easy pace at least 1.5 hours per week had significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline than women who walked less than 40 minutes per week. Think about that!
5. Walking is good for your bones. Research shows that postmenopausal women who walk approximately one mile each day have higher whole-body bone density than women who walk shorter distances, and walking is also effective in slowing the rate of bone loss from the legs.
6. Walking helps alleviate symptoms of depression. Walking for 30 minutes, three to five times per week for 12 weeks reduced symptoms of depression as measured with a standard depression questionnaire by 47%.
7. Walking reduces the risk of breast and colon cancer. Women who performed the equivalent of one hour and 15 minutes to two and a half hours per week of brisk walking had an 18% decreased risk of breast cancer compared with inactive women. Many studies have shown that exercise can prevent colon cancer, and even if an individual person develops colon cancer, the benefits of exercise appear to continue both by increasing quality of life and reducing mortality.
8. Walking improves fitness. Walking just three times a week for 30 minutes can significantly increase cardio-respiratory fitness.
9. Walking in short bouts improves fitness, too! A study of sedentary women showed that short bouts of brisk walking (three 10-minute walks per day) resulted in similar improvements in fitness and were at least as effective in decreasing body fat as long bouts (one 30-minute walk per day).
10. Walking improves physical function. Research shows that walking improves fitness and physical function and prevents physical disability in older persons.
Thanks to the source: http://www.medicinenet.com
Give yourself a high five if you have made it out the door for your walk30 for the past week!! If you have missed a few ... that's okay too because we all have to miss a few now and then. It is all about starting again that is where the magic is ... in the beginnings that we keep initiating.
Walk On Strong!
Sue
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