How to maximize the benefits of walking
For many people, walking is the simplest and most accessible form of exercise. Scientists have discovered a super easy way to increase the health benefits of the activity.
Do you need to do anything special to get the health benefits of daily walking? There is a lot of conflicting information on this subject.
Popular advice like aiming for 10,000 steps a day might make you think that maximizing the benefits of walking means going for long walks or keeping a brisk pace. But much of this advice is based on folk wisdom, not science.
What does the research really show? A new study suggests that the key to getting the most out of your walking routine isn't to reach a difficult goal, but simply to stop and smell more flowers along the way.
Short walks also bring many benefits to the body. Illustration: Istock
Health benefits of walking
According toScienceAlertWalking works the muscles in your arms, chest, back, abdomen, pelvis and legs and although it doesn't take much effort to coordinate all of these, your brain also gets a workout when you go for a walk.
Exercise programs based on short bouts of walking are used for the treatment and rehabilitation of a number of clinical conditions, including obesity and stroke.
This may also be important information for programs designed to help people prevent weight loss while still receiving the benefits of exercise, such as eating disorder treatment programs.
According toIncA large study of 140,000 adults from the American Cancer Society found that walking just two hours a week—about 15 minutes a day—can reduce your risk of disease and extend your life. Walking helps you live longer, but it's also good for your brain right now.
Those findings apply to many forms of exercise, but walking has specific benefits, too.
Science has found that the rhythm of your foot movements and the gentle attention your surroundings require as you walk boosts creativity and helps you find ways to overcome mental blocks.
Perhaps that is why many of history's greatest thinkers were avid walkers.
Why stopping to smell the roses makes walking healthier?
So how do you maximize your chances of realizing all these impressive benefits? Turns out, it's not by pushing yourself to walk as far or as fast as possible.
In a recent study, a team of Italian researchers measured the oxygen consumption of study participants as they engaged in short walking bouts of 10 to 240 seconds on a treadmill.
Accordingly, walking for short periods of time can actually give your metabolism a greater workout than walking the same distance without a break.
What they discovered is that our bodies are like cars. To accelerate a car, you need to step on the gas, similarly, our bodies burn 20-60% more energy (and therefore oxygen) when we accelerate. Walking at a steady pace burns less fuel for both humans and motor vehicles.
This means that the walks that burn the most energy, and therefore probably have the greatest impact on fitness and health, are not the ones where people rush off with the sole aim of running at full speed. These are when people stop, catch their breath, and then continue.
In fact, studies have shown that taking time to notice the natural world around you can increase your overall happiness and well-being. It could be as simple as a houseplant, a dandelion growing in a crack in the sidewalk, birds, or sunlight streaming through a window.
The lesson here is that if your goal is to maximize the health benefits of your daily walk, you should feel free to chat, admire the view, or breathe. That will actually help you get more impact from your walk.
However, there are a few caveats to keep in mind here. First, the study's sample size was small, so it may not be representative of the population as a whole.
Second, all of the study participants were healthy young adults, so these recommendations may not apply to you if you have specific health problems. So listen to your doctor.
They’re definitely not for you if you’re a professional athlete or veteran triathlete. The findings are especially important for people with low aerobic fitness who take longer to reach metabolic plateau, according to the researchers.
This is good news for those who don’t exercise regularly. You don’t have to count steps or sweat on steep inclines to get the most out of your walking routine. These are great goals if they’re appropriate for you and your fitness level.
But if you're looking for a manageable way to get a little more health out of your walking, consider taking breaks when you want to. Not only will those breaks make exercise a little more bearable and doable, they can also make your daily walk a little better for you./.
