0 9 Benefits of Walking

Walking is the most basic form of transportation that we use and is a form that yields a few surprising benefits. You may or may not have heard about the 10,000 steps a day guideline? Well, it is an advised amount of steps that is recommended for us to reach everyday, whether that's through walking, jogging, dancing etc. as long as it gets you to the '10,000' mark.

I used to use a pedometer which is a device (I'm sure you know) that measures how many steps you take over a given period of time. I no longer use one since my old one broke, but when I was using it I was able to reach the minimum of 10,000 steps a day quite easily, and I am quite confident that I now walk more than 15,000 steps a day.

Like I was saying above though, walking does have a surprising amount of benefits that we can gain by simply taking time out of our day to put one foot in front of the other. It doesn't have to be for an hour, something as simple as 30 minutes a day can help. 


1. Clears Your Mind

This is something that is often said when concerning walks - it helps to clear the mind. Getting out into the fresh air is great for alleviating some of the pressure that we may feel we have in our minds. Sometimes we can feel like there is too much going on in our heads for us to cope with and we just have to escape from it for a bit, just for a little bit of a break, walks are great for doing this.

You have your mind to yourself and you can go through what you want in your own time and often come to some sort of resolve.
Before I had a dog I only went on walks with other people occasionally or with family some weekends. When we got our dog, although everyone wanted to walk her, the novelty wore off and I got left with the task. To be honest I wasn't really fussed as I didn't (and still don't) mind taking her for a walk. I now use it as a time for me to think, and to think properly. Walking gives me quality time to sort through my head. If I have something that is unclear in my mind, by the end of a walk where I have had time to properly think, I normally have come up with an answer or at least have a better idea of what I'm supposed to do.

2.  Calms you Down

Exercise in general has been considered for a long time now to help calm you down and relieve stress. It is only in recent years that scientists are beginning to understand the mysteries of our mind and why we find exercise, such as walking, to be relaxing. It seems that exercise reduces anxiety while also promoting the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, these neurons help control anxiety levels.

Walking has often been advised for people with depression or anxiety problems, and with people who take anger-management, with good reason - because it is an effective form of therapy.

I remember when I was a young when me and my sister would fall out, my mum of course would tell us off, and the atmosphere would be tense. Although I didn't go walking that often, I would always notice, and my mum would too, how much better of a mood everyone would be in after having a walk. Our mum would often suggest this after an argument or a time of tension because, even if we just walked in silence, by the end our moods would have lifted and we would more often than not have resolved our conflicts.

3. Exercise

Walking is of course exercise, and exercise is healthy. Walking is not a very strenuous exercise when comparing it to other things (I'm not including power-walking when I say this) and doesn't take that much effort to do for 30 minutes as an exercise like jogging would. It is recommend that adults up to the age of 65 should do 150 minutes (2 hours 30 minutes) of exercise per week or 75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes) of intense exercise per week. A leisurely walk is not strenuous so will needed to be done for 150 minutes per week if it is the only form of exercise you do.

Two and a half hours a week may sound like a long time but it isn't when you split it up over the course of a week because remember, that figure isn't for a day but your guideline for the week. So if you were to walk only on the working days of the week (Monday - Friday) you would only have to do 30 minutes a day. This could then be broken down further into 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. If you were to walk all 7 days of the week then it would be as little as 21.4 minutes a day - which is hardly anything at all.

4. Relieves Stress

Walking will help lift your mood by releasing endorphins into your blood system which will help to counter stress. Stress can really bring you down and really bring a turn (for the worse) to your mood.
I won't go into too much regarding stress as you can read more about it in this article: The Common Causes of Stress and how to deal with it.

5. Gives you Inspiration

As your mind is clearer and as you have your own thoughts to occupy you, you will find that ideas will float in and out of your mind. As human beings, concentrating and thinking deeply is something that we have the capacity to do, and is easier for us when we are alone and without distraction. Walking is often one of those times, and is most probably why we can find inspiration - because we are allowing ourselves to be free of distractions that we may normally face giving ourselves time to properly think.
I suppose that's why a lot of composers, writers, poets, artists, and the like, go for a walk in the countryside or somewhere serene where they can be alone to think, to seek inspiration.

6. Strengthens the Heart

Walking, or in fact any exercise that causes you to increase your heart rate, will improve the rate of blood flow around your body.  Doing this regularly will help lower bad cholesterol levels and raise good ones, reducing the risk of heart disease or strokes. In fact walking at a good rate for 30 minutes a day can reduce the risk of a stroke by near to 30%!

7. Gives you an Energy Boost

I know that it may sound ludicrous that doing exercise and using energy will actually give you energy. Exercise, such as walking, will help to promote good circulation and helps improve the rate of oxygen to your cells. Although you will be using energy, you will actually feel more energetic through the rest of the day.

If, however, you are not used to walking and you walk too far then you will probably feel drained of energy. This is how I used to feel when we got our dog and I was getting into the routine of walking her each day - I would just want to sit down and relax for the rest of the day. Thankfully I got over this feeling quickly and now feel much more upbeat and alert after a nice walk. :)

8. Weight Loss

Before I say that walking can help shed those pounds I must first say that it won't if your diet isn't great. You don't have to be eating nothing but greens but if you are snacking on chocolates and sweets through the day and then have fattening meals on top of that, you aren't likely to see much of a result when it comes to this benefit. Also the more walking you do the more it will help you in losing weight because obviously you'll be burning more calories than that of a shorter walk.
So if you are going to start walking remember that weight loss will depend on your diet and on how much you walk.

9. It tones your legs

Walking regularly will help to strengthen your legs and over time help to tone them. Hills and other uneven terrain will help even more and help lift your glutes. The more you walk the more you will be helping to train your muscles to handle exercise and will in turn help them to grow.

Conclusion

It doesn't take much to pick yourself up and go for a walk, and you don't have to go anywhere particularly out of the way. 
I myself find the most relaxing time to walk and also my favourite time to walk during the early morning. Early as in 06:00 which to many of you may seem crazy but actually once you try it, it's really such a nice part of the day - and if I do get up that early when I don't need to, it's normally to go for an early day walk.