subject: What Benefits Does Walking For Exercise Offer You? [print this page] Walking is a fantastic form of exercise thats suitable for the vast majority of people. Its a low impact workout which has, in comparison with other sports and exercise methods, a very low risk of injury. It can be fitted into your schedule whenever it suits you best theres no need to find the time to squeeze in a trip to the gym, and no monthly membership fees to pay either.
There are any number of different ways to make walking part of your daily routine. Leaving the car at home and walking to work or the shops is always a popular suggestion. However, if the distances involved make that an impractical idea, then you could take the car as usual and park it in the far corner of the parking lot which will maximize the distance that you need to walk to get to the entrance. If you travel by bus or subway, then you could get off one or two stops before your destination and complete the last leg of your journey on foot. Taking a short ten or fifteen minute walk at lunchtime is just one more opportunity to walk during your normal daily routine.
These relatively small changes to your daily routine can, if applied consistently, provide you with some very significant benefits. Walking can reduce the risk of heart problems and stroke as well as helping to reduce blood pressure levels. It can help combat depression and anxiety and it will help you to sleep better at night. It can even lower the risk of certain types of cancer and recent studies suggest that it may help to avoid Alzheimers disease. Walking on a regular basis will provide you with extra reserves of energy and you will feel less fatigued throughout the day. Walking on a regular basis will also help you to lose weight which for many people will be one of the most attractive benefits.
Thats an incredible list of benefits for an activity which can be performed by the vast majority of people and which requires no equipment apart from a pair of comfortable shoes. If you want, you can get special exercise shoes which will increase the effectiveness of your walking workout but a stout pair of shoes that don't give you blisters is all thats really needed.
One piece of inexpensive equipment you can find them starting at under $10 these days which isnt strictly necessary, but which you may find useful, is a pedometer. This will help you to monitor and record your progress and that may help to keep you motivated. A pedometer will track your performance and display it as the number of steps taken, the number of calories burned or the distance covered. Whatever is most meaningful to you.
Another piece of kit that you might consider although, once again, it isnt strictly essential is an mp3 player. The miles and the time will fly by when youre listening to your favourite music.
Relatively minor changes to your routine can deliver some very significant benefits to your health and fitness levels. So take the first steps to feeling good and looking great by building walking into your daily routine starting as soon as possible.
