WHAT DOES WALKING DO TO YOUR BODY? Regular walking, like most aerobic activities, is good for you because cardio-vascular exercise strengthens the heart and lungs, increasing overall fitness. Together with diet and other exercise plans, it can also help with weight loss and tone up muscles. Dr Craig Williams a sports science lecturer at the University of Exeter is a firm believer in the benefits of walking, and says: It can improve muscle endurance as well as muscle strength, especially in the lower body. It is good for bones and improves the bodys cardiovascular system. It also helps boost circulation. Power-walking - keeping a brisk pace at moderate to high intensity - can burn the same amount of calories as jogging or running. So it is useful for helping with weight loss. And, he adds: Because it is low impact, it does not have the same potential for injury as jogging. Yet it can offer all the benefits. Marcus Davis, an osteopath with the Harley Street Back Centre in London, agrees. He says: Walking helps to drain the lower legs of excess fluid and can help prevent varicose veins through the pumping action of the calf muscles. The increased supply of oxygen exercise promotes also gets rid of the waste products in the tissues. And because more people are able to walk at a consistent speed than run, it is a more beneficial form of tissue-cleansing, particularly for the over-50s, for whom jogging can actually cause more problems. Walking is also better for the spine than running, as it puts less stress on the discs. Yet we were designed for constant movement, not sitting in cars or in front of computers, which causes negative pressures on our spinal cord. Regular walking is excellent for spinal discs, which receive minerals and vitamins through the pumping action it causes. And the best thing is that you can see results from walking reasonably quickly - although it depends on each persons individual level of fitness, age and how often and fast they are walking.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 17:43:33 +0000
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