Nigeria Health & Lifstyle

Walking – A Simple Way to Keep Fit

Walking is good for your heart and lungs and helps improve cardiovascular fitness. It can be fitted into your daily routine and you can do it anywhere without any special equipment.

Walking helps to prevent bone thinning that can lead to osteoporosis in later life. What’s more, you can still derive health benefits by taking short walks of ten to fifteen minutes, spread throughout the day, instead of waiting to have a long stretch of 30 minutes or more. Short walks can be built into the busiest of daily routines. You can try getting off the bus a few stops earlier or leaving the car at home and walking to the shops. At work, go for a rejuvenating walk in your lunch hour instead of sitting at your desk, and take the stairs instead of the lift. Best of all walking is free and at no cost to you. It is not age-restrictive and does not require any special gym equipment. All you need is a pair of comfortable canvas and you are ready to go.





Here are some reasons why you should start walking for fitness:

• Walking strengthens your heart and helps reduce the risk of heart attack.
• Walking improves physical and respiratory functions
• Walking is good for your brain and your bones.
• Walking can help alleviate symptoms of depression.
• Walking reduces the risk of some cancers such as colon cancer.

Exercise Melts Body Fat
Lack of exercise is the single worst risk factor for heart disease for both men and women, yet seven out of ten adults don’t do enough. If you want to reduce your body fact, focus on increasing the amount of exercise you get rather than decreasing your food intake. Being seriously overweight and particularly obesity predispose individuals to a number of diseases and serious health problems.

Experts now recommend that people who want to lose weight start increasing their physical activity. Just being more active in general, such as climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, moving around instead of sitting still, sitting up instead of lying down, are things that more effectively burn calories and reduce body fat.

People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight loss consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by exercising regularly.

Walking is one of the best exercises for strengthening bones, controlling weight, toning the leg muscles, maintaining good posture and reducing stress. Return to Galleria Health & Lifestyle Index