REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BE WALKING

 

Do you know?

• Walking to the nearest grocery store would do no harm but more good.
• Walking to visit a friend close by would do no harm but more good.
• Walking to another lecture theater for the next lecture would do no harm but more good.

There is no danger in taking a walk every day no matter the age so YES it’s for everyone. Our generation is filled with so many illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, high blood pressure, and some others. The fact is that walking is a simple trick that can reduce the risk of having most of these diseases. So, I really don’t want to dwell on the health benefits of walking because many of us already know it has so many benefits. I would just concentrate more on some key unknown facts that might not be known to us upfront on the benefits of walking.

• Walking helps to increase intelligence. By walking, the required amount of oxygen and glucose is supplied to the brain. So this helps it to function better. The more you walk the more you think better and effectively.
• Walking helps to build stamina. That is, it makes one active and agile. This makes it easier for one to do more work making one achieve more within a period of time when doing an activity.
• Walking helps to strengthen the bone. The fact is that as we grow older, our bones become weaker. And walking is a healthy trick to help prevent loss of bone density. Stronger bones help improve our posture and balance. Let me also say that people that walk often have an appealing structure to look at (just saying from what I noticed though).
• Walking helps improve digestion preventing things like gastrointestinal discomfort, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and colon cancer. So apart from drinking water, walking after meals is a great way to improve digestion.
• Walking delays aging. This is a fact that has been proved already.
• Walking helps provide vitamin D to the body. Vitamin D is essential for bone strength, it helps prevent cancer, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes type1. And vitamin D can be gotten from the early morning sunlight. This early morning sun helps the body absorb calcium and calcium helps build the bones keeping it healthy and strong. Therefore, walking during the early hours between 8am-12pm helps to get vitamin D.
• Walking helps reduces stress and this is done by improving circulation. Improved circulation provides nutrients and oxygen to the cells and so, stimulates the nervous system receptors and decreases the production of stress hormones.
• Guess what!!! Walking helps uplifts mood. This particular one I have tried and it definitely works. So if you are feeling depressed or sad, you should just take a walk and get some fresh air and you’re definitely going to feel better. I also recommend that the walk can be done with a friend. It makes it more effective.
• Walking helps improve memory. Facts show that physical exercise helps to increase the size of the ‘hippocampus’ while a sedentary lifestyle shrinks the ‘hippocampus’ which leads to memory loss. So, walking helps to increase the size of your ‘hippocampus’, therefore improving your memory.
• Walking helps increase productivity. Fact is by walking, you become more active and energetic therefore, increasing your capacity to do more.
• Walking increases creativity. When you take a walk, the nerves and the brain relax and this helps the brain to think strategically and properly. So, whenever you are stuck with a problem just take a walk.
• Walking can also, help improve your social life. By walking, you meet new faces or you could even get to see some people you don’t see on a regular day. So for those people that like making new friends or you don’t have friends try taking a walk at a convenient time on a regular basis and let the magic happen!
  
• Walking helps to save your money. Yes, this particular I really love. There are some easy places which taking any means of transport could be unnecessary (by ‘easy place’ I mean places that are not far from your initial location) so why not take a walk today and save your money.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WALKING EXPERIENCE MORE EFFECTIVE

1. Ask your friend to join you whenever you need to take a walk.
2. Go for strolls in the evening with family or friends.
3. Walk to the nearest grocery store or any near-by place you are going to. 
4. Think about the money you can save by walking.
5. Try to explore different routes when walking. It makes the experience more fun when seeing new places but walk at safe locations.
6. You could join a walking group.
7. Go on hiking trips with friends.
8. Walk for a social cause (e.g TO STAY HEALTHY WITH JT.MYAH)

Walking should be a gradual process. 10-15 minutes can be done every day for starters then gradually increase the time to 30, 40 minutes, 1 hour, or whatever your limits are. You can break it to morning and evening sessions too and also do well to increase the pace of walking as you go on. Walking should not be a thing of stress but a thing of fun and let’s say YES TO STAY HEALTHY.