Walking Is the New Running…
| Written by Jodelle Fitzwater, CPT, CNC, CFPC, NTP Question: What is the most underrated form of fitness to reach your goals in 2020? Answer: Walking. Sounds too good to be true? Here’s why it’s not. Steady state cardio, of which walking is one, is an effective way to burn fat. How so? Keeping your heart rate at 60-70% of your max has shownto have the greatest fat burning benefits. Walking at a brisk pace is a great way to get into that zone. Unlike high intensity exercises, walking lowers cortisol. Cortisol is our stress hormone that is emitted when the body experiences a perceived stressor such as running, or high intensity intervals for long periods of time.Walking is natural and calming to the body. Those who have adrenal issues or who deal with chronic stress will see more benefits with walking, than with high intensity exercises like running. Walking is functional. We walk from the time we stop crawling to the end of our days. The human body was made to be mobile across the tectonic plates of the earth. Walking more will keep us mobile and help us positively age. Walking has been shown to improve memory. It increases blood flow to the brain, and is a great way to give you time to reflect on past experiences, as well as reflect on how and where you are moving forward in your life. Walking is age-old and has stood the test of time for health benefits. The father of medicine, Hippocrates said, ““Walking is man’s best medicine”.And walking is versatile since you can do it indoors, outdoors, even walking in place! And you don’t even need shoes if you don’t want them. There is plenty of literature on the benefits of being barefoot. So how should you begin or add a walking program to your current workout? Here are a few suggestions:Add walking after your weight training session. Weight training mobilizes fatty acids from the muscles into the blood stream, and then the long slow steady state of walking burns those fatty acids for energy. Begin adding an additional 10,000 steps to you day. Whether outdoors or at the gym, or simply walking farther to the store parking farther away is a great way to increase the metabolic effects of affect. Try intervals. If you are a runner or a jogger, consider, using intervals of walking to calm the body, lowering the effects from cortisol. Try 2 minutes of running following by 2 minutes of walking. Invest in a treadmill desk. Can’t get away from the office, step up your walking routine while you multi-task at work! Treadmill desks are a great way to slip in a little added movement and avoid the “secretary spread”. While we might not always be a runner, we will always be a walker. While we might not always be a cyclist, a dancer, a bodybuilder, an athlete, we will always walk. Keep this functional form of movement and as a bonus, go barefoot to decrease inflammation and for longevity benefits. Whether on grass, sand, concrete, or dirt your feet have sweat glands which make them moist and conductive to the earths surface, so if you think about it, humans were made to walk and be barefoot, and doing so is going to prove it’s results full-fold over time. |
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