Health Blog

Walking is better.

At a vigorous pace of 3 to 4 mph, walking for half an hour five or six times a week could be the perfect exercise. It is one of the safest activities, and it’s easy on your body.

Doctors at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital say that if everyone were to walk briskly for 30 minutes a day, we could cut the incidence of many chronic diseases by 30 or 40 percent.

What’s more, new studies suggest that walking briskly in 10-minute intervals provides just about the same benefits as walking for 30 minutes does.

It’s almost a magic bullet.

Walking helps to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, and depression, among its better known benefits.

Walking can also clear your head and allow you to become more focused during working hours.

Plan a walking trip to the park or shopping downtown make it fun and exciting but do it. Most people start a walking program but do not stick with it. Make a point of doing it everyday.

Walking will make you look better by aiding in weight control and weight loss. The older you get, the harder it is to maintain your weight by restricting calories. But vigorously walking for half an hour burns 200 calories and makes your body burn calories faster for the rest of the day!

Here are two tips to help you avoid some walking mistakes:

Overstriding

When walkers try to walk faster, a natural inclination is to lengthen your stride in front, reaching out further with your foward foot. This leads to a clumsy, ungainly gait, striking hard with the feet. Your shins hurt and you really don’t get any faster.

The Cure for Overstriding

All of the power of your walk comes from pushing with the back leg and foot. Shorter, Quicker Steps: If you are trying to walk fast, concentrate on taking shorter, quicker steps.

Roll Through, Push Off: Then think of really rolling through your step with your back foot and leg, getting a good push off. The result will be faster feet and lengthening your stride where it does you some good – in back.

Shoes

Not all “walking shoes” are good for walking. If this describes your shoes, you are setting yourself up for plantar fasciitis, muscle pulls and knee problems:

Heavy: Walking shoes should be lightweight.
Stiff: Soles won’t bend, can’t twist them. Walking shoes should be flexible so you don’t fight them as your foot rolls through the step.
Over 1 year old: The cushioning and support in your shoes degrades, you should replace your shoes every 500 miles.
Too small: Your feet swell when you take a sustained walk. Your walking shoes should be larger than your dress shoes if you walk for 30 minutes or more for exercise.

The Cure for the Wrong Shoes:

Get fit for the right shoes at a technical running shoe store in your area. The athletic shoe experts will make sure you get the right shoe for overpronation, flexible enough for walking, sized right for the swelling everyone’s feet have while walking.

Walking is the best way to get healthy make sure you start a program today!

Todd Raymer Health Consultant This article was brought to you by GBG Vitality proud distributors of GBG Health and Wellness program and products at http://www.gbgvitality.com

Article Source: ArticleSpan

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