Walk Your Way to Better Health

Getting into a regular exercise routine can be difficult. With all of the reality TV shows and Instagram fitness gurus, you can feel pressure that if you aren’t giving 100% all the time, there’s no point in even trying. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

When it comes to fitness and health, there’s no wrong way to begin. Exercise is a crucial part of building a life of wellness, and as everything in life, you need to start somewhere. Embarking on a journey of fitness shouldn’t leave you terrified; it should empower you to change your life for the better.

Still think exercise just ‘isn’t for you’? Challenge that perception by changing how you think of exercise and by taking a look at all of the ways that you can better your health just by walking.

• Walking helps boost your mood.
  • Have a bad day at work? Stressed about something in your personal life? Feeling down in the dumps in general? Get out and go for a walk! While we exercise, our body is producing feel-good, anti-stress hormones that help to relax your body. On top of that, our posture affects our mood and can actually change the hormones released by your body, including cortisol and testosterone. So outside of the actual physical health benefits, consistent walking can actually change the overall arch of your mood and boost your mentality and chemical signals for the long term.

• It can reduce your risk for various health complications.
  • There’s an old timey saying that goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and exercise is emblematic of this. As we go through life and age, our bodies will start to fail in various ways. However, living a healthy, active lifestyle can help delay and even combat the body’s natural process, and walking is a great way to help keep your body and your mind young. Regular walking helps to strengthen your bones, reduces your risk for developing dementia, keeps your heart strong, cuts down on your risk for developing Type II diabetes, and of course, can help you lose weight which, in itself, can lead to a lot of health problems.

• It burns fat and tones muscles.
  • Regular walking helps to reduce body fat and tone up your muscles, and it’s not just the muscles in your legs that can benefit. Walking can help you tone up your butt, work on your abs, and reduce the amount of fat around your middle which can increase your risk for Type II diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and more.