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GO homepage > For Your Health
“Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.”
-Thomas Jefferson
Looking for a fitness plan that fits into your busy lifestyle? Consider a walking program.
You can improve your health and lose weight simply by incorporating a daily walk into your schedule. Adding extra steps throughout your day can also have similar effects on your health.
Why Walking?
Walking is a great exercise for any age or fitness level. It is familiar and not intimidating—if you can walk to your car each day, you can start a walking program.
It is also inexpensive. With the exception of comfortable shoes, no equipment is required. And it can be done nearly anywhere.
If you’re just starting out, try buying a pedometer to count your steps. Use it for a week to see how many steps you take each day. Then set a goal to add 3,000 steps per day. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to fit walking into your day.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk to a co-worker’s office to discuss something instead of sending an email or phoning. Use your lunch hour to walk with a co-worker. Simple changes to your routine can add more steps to your day.
Health Benefits
Increasing your activity level through regular walking has many benefits. You can lose weight which, along with the aerobic exercise that walking provides, contributes to a reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.
Walking can reduce stress and help lower your blood pressure. It can also help fight depression. Walking in your neighborhood might even help you meet a new friend or two!
All of these benefits result from simply standing up and putting one foot in front of the other. Aim for thirty minutes of brisk walking five times a week. That’s just three hours a week to improve your health.
Once you get comfortable adding steps to your day, increase your pace. Brisk walking can offer greater benefits by increasing your heart rate.
Scientific Proof
A study at Duke University in 2004 showed that even a little bit of physical activity can result in weight loss. Just 30 minutes of walking each day can help keep the pounds off.1
Walking can also improve your mental health. In studies of older adults, those who walked regularly demonstrated sharper memory, improved learning, and increased attention. Walkers also showed a slower decline in those abilities by the end of the study.2
So whether you increase from 3,000 steps a day to 6,000 or take a 30-minute walk with a friend, walking can make you healthier, happier, and maybe even a bit wiser!
© GlobalFit 2007
You should consult your physician before beginning any exercise or diet program. For Your Health articles are offered as introductions to basic concepts and are not comprehensive or necessarily applicable to a particular individual’s circumstances.
1 “Effects of the Amount of Exercise on Body Weight, Body Composition, and Measures of Central Obesity.” Archives of Internal Medicine. January 12, 2004.
2 “Physical Activity, Including Walking, and Cognitive Function in Older Women” and “Walking and Dementia in Physically Capable Elderly Men” Journal of the American Medical Association. Sept. 22, 2004
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