5 Reasons You Need To Walk More

Summary

Walking is an underrated but highly beneficial form of exercise that offers numerous health advantages, including improved joint health, metabolism, sleep quality, stress reduction, and creativity enhancement.

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of walking as a form of exercise, detailing five key benefits. It explains how walking lubricates joints, boosts metabolism by increasing energy demand, improves sleep quality through physical exhaustion, reduces stress by releasing endorphins, and stimulates creativity. The author suggests that even a short daily walk can yield significant health improvements and encourages regular walking as a therapeutic and accessible activity for everyone, even during times when going outside may be limited.

Opinions

The author believes that walking is often underestimated as a form of exercise, despite its significant benefits.
Walking is seen as a remedy for joint health, contributing to the delay of joint damage by promoting the release of synovial fluid.
The article posits that walking, especially at a brisk pace or uphill, can enhance metabolism by increasing the body's demand for energy, thus burning more carbs and fats.
It is suggested that walking can lead to better sleep by physically exhausting the body in a healthy way, which is presented as an alternative to gym workouts for those with time or financial constraints.
The author expresses that even a brief 10-minute walk can effectively lower stress levels due to the release of endorphins, which also improve emotional well-being.
Walking is recommended as a method to foster creativity, described as a way to clear the mind and allow new ideas to surface.
The author acknowledges that outdoor walking may not be feasible for everyone and offers indoor alternatives like meditation to maintain physical and mental well-being.

5 reasons you need to walk more

Walking has always been the most underrated form of exercise, many thinking of us thinking that it isn’t efficient enough, until of late. Looking closely at the science of it, here’s a blog about it! Enjoy!

1. Remedial for joints

Our body is a complex structure held together by a series of bones holding the rest of the body together. It comes as no surprise that they are therefore the ones at highest risk of ‘erosion’ or as we call it a wear and tear mechanism. Walking helps the synovial membranes (they jacket out joints) release a fluid called synovial fluid which is then used as a lubricant for these joints, therefore delaying the onset off joint damage.

2. Kick the metabolism

Think about it if you’ve ever gone out for a walk, it can be demanding especially if it’s an uphill, or you’re walking at a much faster pace. When a physical exertion as such has been put on the body it asks for far much energy demand, increases our cardiovascular activity. To compensate for this the body starts using up more carbs and fats for fuels which occurs at a faster rate than usual — this faster rate = increase in metabolism. Hint: Prime factor for weight loss.

3. Snooze like a baby

Have you ever had a physically exhausting day and when you finally jump into bed, you’re knocked out in a minute and have no absolute clue when morning arises? Yep. Such a satisfying thought isn’t it? For those of you who can’t relate and you’re one of those people who have trouble sleeping at night, it might just help to exhaust your body during the day. Healthy exhaustion. Sure, a hard workout at the gym is a solution but it’s not always that we can afford a membership or have the time to, going for.

Solution: A 30 Min stroll every day for the whole week will surely do you as good

4. Stress low

We seem to be living in a world full of chaos where we say we don’t have the time for stress but yet again keep thinking on how stressed we are. Bugga. Something as simple as going for a 10 min walk even, 10 MINS!! Can help level down your stress. Thing is, walking is a form of physical activity and when we engage in such, we stimulate the release of a hormone called endorphins. Endorphins have this ability to reduce the perceptions of pain, the feeling of stress and hence are natural boosters for our emotional states.

5. Blank canvas

Run out of ideas? Want to be creative? I use walks as a therapy to get my creative juices out. It’s like stepping out with a blank canvas and letting nature have its way of squeezing those ideas from deep down.

I know some of us don’t have an option of going out right now but that shouldn’t stop us from carrying out some form of movement. Something as simple as a 10-minute meditation from your homes works as well.