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10 Benefits of Walking That May Be Rarely Known

Hello FlokqMarch 29, 2022

Walking is a simple category of cardio that you can do anytime and anywhere. However, the benefits of walking are not as simple as when you do it, but you can get many benefits from walking regularly or every day.

Walking is one of the easiest exercise options for you to do. Without even realizing it, you are actually already doing this when doing activities almost every day. To do this sport does not require a lot of equipment. You just need to wear comfortable clothes and running shoes, then take your time about 30 minutes per day to do a leisurely walk.

Although, the benefits obtained from this walking sport are still not widely realized by many people. Without realizing it, if you do it regularly, this sport will certainly be able to provide many benefits for your health, ranging from physical health to mental health. Here are the benefits that you can feel from walking.

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1. Reducing stress levels

Regularly walking will be useful to prevent and reduce the stress level you have. When you walk or do other physical activities, your body will release endorphins that can improve your mood and reduce the anxiety and depression you are feeling. In addition, walking will also make you sleep more soundly. Therefore, by walking regularly it will help to reduce your stress level.

2. Strengthening the immune system

Walking regularly can also increase your body’s resistance or immunity so this is very useful to prevent you from various infectious diseases. The fact shown from a health study is that someone who walks for 30-45 minutes every day, will experience pain less often than someone who does not exercise at all.

In addition, you can also balance this walking exercise by continuing to eat healthy and nutritious foods as a form of defense or increasing your immune system.

3. Lose weight

The next benefits of walking you can feel is losing weight. By walking for 30 minutes every day, you can burn at least 150 calories in your body. The more steps you take each day, the more calories you burn.

This can help you to better control your weight, thus making your body healthier and less susceptible to disease. This exercise is even safe and can be done to shrink the stomach after giving birth, but walking alone is not enough you need to balance it with a healthy and regular diet.

4. Improve mood for the better

The benefits of walking can be equivalent to eating chocolate, which is equally beneficial in improving your mood. The reason is, people who regularly walk will experience changes in the nervous system that cause a sense of pleasure and make a better mood. A better mood will certainly bring the overall activities that you live in daily can be full of good and positive productivity.

5. Smooth the digestive system

After eating a heavy meal, you are advised not to sit still afterward. Especially if you just sit watching TV or even go straight to sleep, it can interfere with the performance of your digestive system.

The thing you need to do after eating is try to walk for 30 minutes which will be beneficial to facilitate the work of your digestive system. In addition, the benefits of walking after eating can also help keep your blood sugar levels stable and not cause spikes that harm the body.

6. Improve sleep quality

If you are someone who finds it difficult to sleep at night, doing regular exercise can be a powerful remedy and worth trying. The reason is that walking every day will have a positive impact on the quality and duration of your sleep.

This is because walking will naturally increase the effects of melatonin, aka the sleep hormone. Meanwhile, the benefits of walking can also help reduce stress and anxiety levels that can cause sleep disturbances that you experience.

7. Relieve joint pain

Do not underestimate the benefits of walking, because if you do it regularly it will help to relieve pain in your joints.

A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2019) tested adults older than 49 who experienced lower body joint pain. As the result, participants who walk at least 10 minutes per day or 1 hour per week can prevent joint pain symptoms and reduce their severity in later life.

8. Prevent osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is caused by thinning of the bones so that the bones become porous, brittle, and prone to fracture. Therefore, to prevent osteoporosis, you can try to walk regularly every day. The benefits of walking that you will get for bone health can also be combined with other physical activities, such as hiking and jogging.

9. Maintain heart health

Many people may not know about it, but walking has benefits for heart health and prevents chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. This is because walking can increase heart rate, improve blood circulation in the body, and strengthen the work of the heart.

However, if you have a history of heart disease, you should first consult a doctor or specialist to find out the right duration of walking according to your health condition.

10. Strengthens thigh and calf muscles

The benefits of walking that you can also get if you do it regularly are that it can increase the strength of your thigh and calf muscles. Exercise through this sport can help you to shrink your thighs and calves so that your legs will look better. In addition, routinely doing other physical exercises that focus on strength, such as squat and lunges, can further enhance the appearance of your thighs and calves.

The various benefits of walking that have been mentioned above, of course, there are many other benefits that you can get if you walk regularly every day. Therefore, don’t delay and don’t be lazy to at least do simple exercises such as walking for the sake of your physical and mental health to stay awake.

The health benefits of walking are very diverse. However, if you have certain health conditions that make it impossible to walk for too long, you can consult a doctor or specialist to find out what other types of exercise you can do to maintain your health.