Why You Should Love Walking

If you’re looking to fine tune your body with a low-impact exercise that’s easy to do, requires no training and can be done at any age, then walking for fitness is for you. Walking is an excellent way to rid yourself of excess body fat, while toning your muscles and strengthening your heart. Because it’s so easy and fun to do, it is a much easier exercise program to stick with than most. Once you develop a routine for yourself, you will find that you look forward to your workouts.

When done correctly, walking benefits both the both upper and lower body muscle groups. When a walker swings their arms, they are working many muscles in the upper body, giving the walker a complete workout.

People who walk briskly (3-3.9mph) for an hour every day can greatly reduce the risk of Type II diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer. Brisk walking is also a great way to burn off stored fat and speed up the metabolism. It also helps build muscle.

Walking can be an versatile activity that is used for more than just exercise. It is a great way to explore a city or countryside, socially interact and nurture relationships, or just to simply clear your mind and plan for the future. Moderate paced walking has been shown to be beneficial aerobic exercise. You can walk during the day or peacefully under the stars at night (with appropriate reflective clothing). You can even walk in the rain with suitable rain gear (just avoid thunderstorms!). If you dress for the weather, you will find that you can walk in almost any condition. Walking is an inexpensive activity that can be enjoyed by nearly everybody. No wonder it’s the most popular form of aerobic exercise among United States citizens!

Walking is safe in that it has a very low risk of injury. People of all ages can walk for fitness. Many people are put on a walking program to recover from injury and “strolling” can be used to help break an individual out of a sedentary lifestyle.

Exercise does not have to be painful to be beneficial. Walking is a non-strenuous way of achieving cardiovascular fitness and muscle development and it can be done every day.