Walking - An Exercise for Stamina
Ø You
may not realise it, but you are already an accomplished walker. You learned to walk when you were one
year old and since then in spite of
travelling by train / car to all destinations and watching TV all evening, you still take an average of 10,000 steps each day i.e.,
roughly 4 million steps each year. You actually walk 3 Kms every day,
approximately 1000 kms each year.
Ø Walking
is the easiest and most convenient exercise. In the 1950s a study showed that
bus conductors who walked up and down the aisle collecting fares, had fewer
heart attacks than the drivers who got little exercise.
Ø Walking
is now the biggest fitness activity worldwide for people of all ages far ahead of jogging and aerobic
dancing. The 3 KM that you cover each day walking inside the house is of no
benefit to your heart and lungs. Walking for fitness requires moderately
increased heart rate and increased oxygen intake by your lungs.
Ø Walking
is popular because it is suitable for almost everybody, male or female, old or
young. While being inexpensive (or free), it gives you benefits similar to
swimming, rowing or aerobic dancing. It
improves the muscle tone of limbs, legs, shoulders, arms, abdomen and back. In addition to making you slim, it speeds up
body metabolism and burns calories. It also relieves anxiety, depression and
stress. It is a positive addiction,
which can easily become a lifelong habit, which can counter almost any life style ailment.
Ø First
choose a good pair of walking shoes and comfortable socks, otherwise you can
end up with blisters, aches and pains.
While they need not necessarily be expensive, they should give you
proper heel and arch support, should be light, made of breathable fabric and
should have a thick sole to cushion the feet.
Ø Start
slowly, especially if you have been sedentary for a long period. Start gradually and increase your pace each
week. During the first week, walk only
10-15 min. daily, increasing 10-15 min. every week so that by one month you
would be walking for one hour.
Ø Preferably
walk with others, so that you maintain your schedule (if you are feeling lazy
or tired, your partner will ensure that you don’t miss your walk). It also helps in ensuring the “talking
rule”. While walking, you could discuss
a wide range of day-to-day topics with your partner. If you find that you are breathless while
talking, it means you are walking too fast; just slow down a bit.
Ø You
may get a few pains and aches initially.
These will vanish by the end of the first week.
Ø The
most obvious benefit of walking is in weight loss and obesity reduction. An hour of walking burns about 250
calories. If this is done daily for a
month, you will burn 7500 calories, equivalent to 1kg of body fat. Coupled with
a moderate diet, this can result in a loss of 10-15 kg in one year.
Ø Walking
benefits your heart. Walking reduces LDL
or bad cholesterol and increases HDL or good cholesterol (HDL protects the
heart from LDL cholesterol which causes blockage in blood vessels). It helps strengthen the heart and reduces
blood pressure.
Ø Most
heart patients are advised to start walking within 3 days of heart
surgery. This is initiated in the
hospital itself and carried on for life.
Walking also helps patients with backache, spondylosis and arthritis.
Ø You
must have heard of osteoporosis. It is
the weakness of bones that comes with old age, especially in women. Walking strengthens the bones. Walking is a better exercise for the elderly
than swimming and cycling.
Ø Of
specific benefit to the fair sex is the effect of walking on pre-menstrual
tension and pregnancy. Pre-menstrual
tension affects many fertile women, resulting in headaches, depression and
fatigue during periods. Due to effects
of endorphins, which are secreted in the body during walking, all these
symptoms are reduced. During pregnancy,
all exercises except swimming and walking are considered too strenuous. Walking is therefore the exercise of choice,
it also readies the body for delivery by strengthening the abdomen, back,
pelvis, heels and legs.
Ø But
walking has its own disadvantages: injuries. Blisters can be avoided by wearing
good socks. Shin-splints (pain in shin
area of legs) can be avoided by wearing padded shoes and walking on grass and
soft surfaces. Rest ensures that pain
will subside, but you must consult your doctor.
In conclusion, walking can also benefit your brain. Sounds strange? Some of the world’s greatest thinkers were
walkers. Freud, Beethoven and Einstein
were all walkers. These men did most of
their thinking while walking.
So
put on your walking shoes and start walking; the sooner, the better!
