Walking Your Way To Better Health

Introduction

Walking is simple to do, most healthy people can do it even if it might seem difficult at first, and you can do it almost anywhere at any time. The only special equipment you need are good walking shoes, and then you’re in business.

13 Benefits Of Walking

Let’s start by looking at some of the many ways that walking is good for you:

1. Burns More Calories

Walking burns calories like any other exercise, but, and this is important, without the impact and stress that other forms of exercise (e.g. jogging and running) can cause.

Even if you’re not feeling well, you can still go on a leisurely stroll and get the benefits of the movement.

2. Builds A Strong Heart

Exercise always helps your heart because you cause your cardiovascular system to work a little harder, which is good for it when you’re healthy. Keeping your heart strong will keep you alive much longer.

3. Builds Better Bone Health

As we age, our bones become more brittle and we experience more pain. This can lead to broken bones and other issues. But if you keep walking and moving, you’ll be less likely to develop those problems.

4. Improves Balance And Coordination

The more you use your body, the more it works for you. Walking more often improves your balance and coordination because your body gets used to standing upright and moving more often. It’s a matter of practice and getting the muscles and ligaments strong.

5. Improves Your Lung Capacity

Walking, especially fast walking, will get your breathing up and cause you to increase your lung capacity. Usually it takes about six to eight weeks of cardiovascular work-outs to experience the full improvement.

6. Lower Your Blood Sugar

People with high blood sugar can see huge benefits from walking and burning off that extra sugar in their blood.

It is not a cure for type 1 diabetes but it can help people with type 2 tremendously, and it can help people with type 1 lower their insulin requirements.

7. Eases Joint Pain

As people age, they tend to get joint pain, often caused by arthritis. It might seem counter-intuitive to keep moving through that pain, but pain from arthritis absolutely can be reduced from more movement. This is because arthritis causes a build-up of scar tissue in the joints from lack of movement, so if you move more it can stop that problem.

8. Boosts Your Immunity

Getting your blood pumping and your cardiovascular system working will also boost your immunity to regular common illnesses like colds.

9. Energizes You

Anytime you’re feeling tired for no reason, try going on a fast, ten-minute walk and you’ll find that you have much more energy. This is one reason a fast walk is an excellent way to wake up in the morning.

10. Improves Your Mental Health And Mood

A nice walk in nature can vastly improve your mental health and mood. If you are feeling down, getting out in the fresh air for a leisurely walk can help.

And if you’re feeling anxious, try a fast walk (even on a treadmill) to burn that extra energy.

11. Helps You Live Longer And Healthier

When you incorporate daily exercise into your routine, it will extend your life. Not only that, you’ll also enjoy your life much longer because you won’t be as sick or in as much pain.

12. Strengthens And Tones Your Leg Muscles

There is no hiding the fact that walkers have good legs, but it also improves muscle tone all over your body – especially if you work on getting your arms in on the action and pay close attention to your glutes and core muscles.

13. Boosts Your Creativity

Any time you’re struggling to come up with good ideas for anything you’re trying to accomplish, try going for a walk, but without technology. In other words, just you and nature (or just you and the treadmill). You’ll get a boost of creativity that will carry you through.

How To Choose The Right Shoes

One of the things you need to consider if you want to start a walking program is your footwear. Finding the right shoe for walking is essential because if you have foot pain or problems with your feet, it can cause problems with the rest of your body too – from your legs to your knees to your back and more.

1. Buy Walking Shoes

If you’re going to go walking, you should buy shoes specifically designed for that purpose.

Walking shoes are typically lightweight, allow for ventilation to prevent moisture, use a cushioning material inside, have outsoles that provide traction, and they offer the right type of arch support.

2. You Don’t Have To Buy Expensive Shoes

You really don’t have to buy expensive walking shoes to protect your feet – you only need to make sure they have the right features, such as those mentioned above.

Look for shoe sales in January and April to get the best deals on walking shoes.

3. Think About How Your Foot Is Shaped

Everybody is different, so once you start looking for walking shoes, you’ll need to figure out what type of foot you have. How wide is your foot? How long is it? Do you have a big arch or a small arch? Different walking shoes will fit different criteria.

4. Ensure That The Shoes Fit

When it comes to walking shoes, you don’t need to “break them in”. They should feel comfortable from the moment you put them on.

When trying on the shoes, be sure to wear the type of socks you plan to wear while walking to ensure that they fit the same.

Also, try shopping for shoes after you have been walking so that your feet are at their largest size. Get your feet measured too, because you may be wearing the wrong size out of habit.

Finally, remember that your feet may not be quite identical, so ensure you try on the shoes you are considering buying on both feet, not just one.

5. Don’t Wear Old Shoes

You really do need to buy new shoes more often than you might think. A good walking shoe will last about 400 miles of use, but you can also choose to get rid of them when the outsole is worn (as a guide).

The best thing though is to check your mileage, just like you would for your car tires. If the outsole is not in good shape, it can cause a considerable impact on the rest of your body due to not giving you enough traction or cushion for your steps.

Tips For Smart Walking

The main thing to remember, no matter what you’re setting a goal for, is that your goals should be SMART. That means they need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. If you make a habit of creating goals for all aspects of your life using this acronym, you’ll be a lot more successful – no matter what you do.

But before you get started with your SMART walking goals, let’s talk about some factors to consider as you’re creating your goals.

1. Know Your Fitness Level – Almost everybody can walk. This includes people who are very unhealthy, even if they can only walk for five minutes. Start with your fitness level and set your goals accordingly.
2. Know What You’re Working Toward – Pretend you stuck to everything you are supposed to on this journey. What is the dream goal you’re working toward? Even if it seems crazy, knowing that final goal is essential for designing your plans.
3. Know Your Time Availability – This is part of being realistic because if you have roadblocks to having enough time to devote to walking to meet your goals, you may not succeed.

Creating SMART Walking Goals

Here is an example based on a healthy but sedentary office worker for you to use as a model:

• Specific – My goal is to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps per day by the end of six months, starting from where I am now at 1,000 steps per day.
• Measurable – Every day, I will add 100 steps to my total. It will take me 90 days to reach 10,000 steps per day.
• Attainable – I am overweight but with no health problems, so my goal to walk 10,000 steps a day by the end of 90 days and to maintain it for 6 months is entirely doable in terms of my health.
• Realistic – Adding in 100 steps a day is realistic because I am healthy, and I have enough time. It’ll take me about an hour and a half at my walking pace to reach 10,000 steps. I plan to walk each morning between 7 and 9 am. I also have an indoor place I can walk when the weather is terrible.
• Timely – By adding the goal of reaching 10,000 steps in 90 days, then maintaining that for six months, it makes the goal timely – meaning it has a time limit that you have set for you to reach your goal.

As you see, crafting SMART walking goals will help you set up a plan that is achievable if you simply follow it. Once you have set up the plan, you can put it in your calendar, tell your accountability partner, and then just follow it. You will reach your goal without issue.

6 Ways You Can Track Your Progress

When you are truly committed to something, the best way to succeed is by making goals and then measuring and tracking your progress toward reaching those goals.

Most life coaches love the saying, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” And, whether you like it or not, that’s the truth. If you want to succeed in your walking plans to improve your health goals, then track your progress.

Let’s look at some different ways that you can track your walking progress.

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