Go For a Walk
Go for a walk.
It can change your life.
For a lot of us working out can be intimidating.
Luckily most of us have been walking the majority of our life and it turns out our body is a big fan of activities like walking.
Why?
Have you ever heard the sayin’,
“If you don’t use it, you lose it?”
Well when it comes to the body its pretty close to spot on. Our muscles stay strong and grow when we use them, when we don’t they get smaller and it increases our risk of those muscles getting tired quicker, increasing the possibility they get injured. 1
If we don’t move our joints the fluid that surrounds them and the blood flow to them starts to decrease and the health of the joints decrease, which can eventually lead to osteoarthritis.
Our body is meant to move. So we need to move it. So what has the research shown about how a walk can change your life? Well when it came to looking at 50-90 year old diabetics those that walked more than one mile a day had a 2 FOLD Lower Risk of Death from all-cause mortality AND a 5 FOLD lower risk of death from non-coronary heart disease related deaths. That’s not all though.
Our body is meant to move. So we need to move it.
What has the research shown about how a walk can change your life?
Well when it came to looking at 50-90 year old diabetics those that walked more than one mile a day had a 2 FOLD Lower Risk of Death from all-cause mortality AND a 5 FOLD lower risk of death from non-coronary heart disease related deaths. That’s not all though.
Other researchers found that the amount of steps you walk in a day is significantly associated with all-cause mortality.
Meaning the more you walk each day the less likely you are die compared to someone that walks less.
There’s more though.
Walking, especially when walking through nature, has shown to have some exciting effects on mental health.
For example.
Walking can have a huge effect on your mental health.
Walking has been shown to help with prevention of depression and as an effective contributor to treatment.
Walking has been show to:
Help be preventative when it comes to anxiety and can help reduce anxiety.
Help Decrease physiological stress
Improve physiological well-being
Help with social isolation and loneliness.
So do me a favor today, do your family a favor today, do your friends a favor today, do yourself a favor today, go for a walk. Because if you’re reading this you’re probably a pretty spectacular human being and going for a walk can improve your life and your friends, family, and loved ones can most likely enjoy some more life and time with you if you do.
References
E. Jeffrey Metter, Laura A. Talbot, Matthew Schrager, Robin Conwit, Skeletal Muscle Strength as a Predictor of All-Cause Mortality in Healthy Men, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Volume 57, Issue 10, 1 October 2002, Pages B359–B365, https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/57.10.B359
Saint-Maurice PF, Troiano RP, Bassett DR, et al. Association of Daily Step Count and Step Intensity With Mortality among US Adults. JAMA. 2020;323(12):1151–1160. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.1382
Kelly P, Williamson C, Niven AG, et al
Walking on sunshine: scoping review of the evidence for walking and mental health
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2018;52:800-806.
Smith TC, Wingard DL, Smith B, Kritz-Silverstein D, Barrett-Connor E. Walking decreased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality in older adults with diabetes. J Clin Epidemiol. 2007;60(3):309-317. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2006.06.013