Benefits Of Walking
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Walking is a simple workout almost anyone can do. It’s low impact and you don’t need a lot of fancy equipment or special training to do it. It’s just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. It can be as easy or as challenging as you want it to be.
If you’re just starting out, and you’re not in very good shape, just take a stroll around the block each night after dinner. After a few weeks you’ll be up to longer walks, picking up the pace, or tackling a small hill.
Walking gets you moving and it’s a great way to get in some cardio and get the blood moving without a lot of stress on your body. At the same time, you’ll start to notice that your leg muscles start to tone and your core strengthens. It’s not unusual to find that your pants are fitting looser after a few weeks of regular walks.
Who Can Benefit
Anyone and everyone can benefit from walking. Yes, we all walk, but this is more than just the daily walking we must do to get thru our day. This is about taking it an extra step (pun intended) and walking for our health.
As we age, our bodies tend to get more tight and sore and if one can add in walking on a daily basis then it does the body good. A short walk or a long walk, as long as you are walking that is what matters.
How To Stay Motivated To Walk Every Day
While walking is easy to do, it can also get a bit boring. If you’re struggling to stay motivated to go on that daily walk, I have some tips for you…
1. Find a walking buddy. It’s much harder to skip that walk if you know someone is waiting for you and relying on you to go with them. Having someone to talk to on your walks also keeps things interesting.
2. Grab your phone or mp3 player and some headphones. Listen to your favorite music while you walk, download some podcasts or lose yourself in an audiobook. Having something to listen to will make the time go by faster and keep your walks interesting and fun. Make sure you use headphones that let in other sounds around you though so your walk is safe.
3. Schedule your walks and make them part of your daily routine. It will take a little while before it becomes a habit, but before you know it you won’t forget to go for your walk, just like you won’t forget to brush your teeth.
Step It Up And Track What You Do
In the beginning your main goal will be to just go out there and move around. That’s great and the perfect way to start out. But you’ll get to a point where that quick 15 minute evening stroll isn’t enough to get you the results you want. It’s time to push a little harder and make sure you get stronger with each walking workout.
Start keeping track of how long and how far you walk. Set a goal each week, to either walk a bit further, or cover the same distance in a shorter amount of time. Set a goal and then give yourself a week (or longer if needed) to get used to the new distance or speed. Once it starts to feel comfortable, you know it’s time to raise the bar. Keep pushing yourself and you’ll continue to get in very effective, low impact workouts by doing nothing more than walking.
Adding a pedometer to your life might also help you get on the right track. And you can even find fun exercise DVD’s for walking like Dance that Walk.
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