It has long been explained by doctors, and she herself is recommended by trainers. However, most people are still looking for a minibus when heading to the store. Some even go to the stall for cigarettes by car. And at the same time, everyone complains about the "beer" tummy, interruptions in the heart and weakness in the legs, if you have to stand in line.
Lose weight without problems
In the list of what walking is good for, the most attractive item for many will be getting rid of excess weight. People usually begin to think about health when problems begin with it, but their attractiveness worries almost from the moment they begin to lose it. And this is even good: by starting to walk for the sake of losing weight, a person at the same time will strengthen his health.
Researchers have found that the benefits of walking for gaining shape are much higher than regular visits to the gym. Walking is more effective than diets and gives more lasting results, unless, of course, it is accompanied by gluttony. When walking on foot in half an hour, "burns out" as much fat as you spend in the fitness room in an hour. And at the same time, you do not have to pay for such training. In addition, the stresses during walking are natural and evenly distributed. You are not threatened with "soreness" or overload of certain muscle groups. And an additional bonus can be considered an improvement in posture, if at first you train yourself to walk with your shoulders open. By the way, this is not difficult to do: it is enough to carry a slightly loaded backpack on both straps.
Let's say no to old age
The undoubted benefits of walking on foot are also observed for those who want to postpone the onset of senile weakness as far as possible. The most common cause of age-related mortality is strokes and heart attacks. And they are caused by the weakness of blood vessels and heart muscle. To strengthen them, static loads - lifting weights, exercising on simulators, etc. - are not very suitable. But clean air, rhythmic movements and uniformity of the load cope with the task perfectly. The pressure stabilizes - the vessels cease to experience excessive impact. The heart catches the right rhythm and does not overload, while strengthening itself.
Fighting apathy and depression
Another reason for rapid aging is stress, without which our life is not complete, even if we diligently avoid unpleasant impressions and sensations. The benefit of walking on foot is also that it quickly and drug-free eliminates the consequences of nervous shocks.
European doctors have conducted a large-scale study of the age group from 40 to 65 years old. It has been carried out for many years and has yielded staggering results: the risk of heart disease almost halves if people just walk for about three hours a day at a brisk pace. In addition, senile dementia, atherosclerosis and other diseases common at their age were not observed among those who like to walk.
Preventing dangerous diseases
The list of health benefits of walking is long and compelling. His most compelling points are:
- Reducing "bad" blood cholesterol in a natural way to a minimum. This means the prevention of the occurrence of related diseases.
- The likelihood of diabetes mellitus is reduced by at least one third.
- In women, the risk of getting a breast tumor is noticeably reduced, in men - prostate cancer, in both cases - intestinal oncology.
- Without medical intervention (including medications), the work of the gastrointestinal tract is normalized.
- The risk of developing glaucoma drops to almost zero.
- Strengthening the skeleton and joints prevents the development of osteoporosis, arthritis and rheumatism.
- Immunity grows: "walkers" do not catch the virus even in the midst of epidemics.
True, to achieve such results requires daily walking. The benefits of one-time walks are much lower.
How much do you need
The average person who leaves home only by bus to service and by tram to a store takes no more than 3 thousand steps on a working day. This is so little that unpleasant consequences for the body can be considered secured.
If a person is more conscious and travels to work (nearby) on foot, he walks about 5 thousand times. Better - but still not enough. In order not to lose this by nature, you need to take at least 10 thousand steps every day, which will be a distance of about 7.5 km. At an average speed of movement, you need to travel for about two hours - and your health will not leave you.
Where and how best to walk?
It is advisable to correctly select places for walking. Naturally, if you combine walking with going to work, you won't be able to correct the route too much. However, walking in your free time allows you to choose a "useful" trajectory of movement. Parks are best suited for these purposes: there is no gas, clean air, fairly flat paths, quite suitable for walking, plus at least some kind of nature. If there is no park nearby, take a route away from traffic arteries. At least in the courtyards of houses.
In addition, the benefits of walking are only seen if the person walks vigorously. When you wander slowly and sadly, your body works in a mode that is not much different from that of rest.
No special walking equipment is required. The only thing worth paying attention to are shoes. Flip-flops or heels are clearly not suitable for a long and bouncy walk.
Only fresh air!
I would also like to note that walking on the street can in no way be replaced by the use of a treadmill in a sports club, even in the most intense mode. You only need to walk outside: here you get your dose of the sun, which forces your body to produce vitamin D. Without it, the healing effect will be much lower, although the slimmer will remain at the same level. And there is no need to excuse yourself with clouds. Even on a cloudy day, the sun's rays are enough to stimulate the production of this valuable vitamin in the right amount.
How to train yourself to walk?
Laziness, they say, is the engine of progress. But she is also a stop-cock for keeping fit. I don't want to make unnecessary body movements, and the person begins to justify himself by the lack of time or other objective circumstances. However, you can subtly force yourself to start walking. The methods are simple and feasible.
- If your office is two stops from home, walk to and from work. If you cannot do without a trip by transport, get out of it at a stop earlier when traveling by metro and two times - if you travel by minibus, tram or trolleybus.
- Do not take a "brake" with you to work, take a walk for lunch in a cafe. And not the closest thing.
- Forget the elevator. Let you live on the 20th floor - walk. To begin with, just down, in time and return home by the stairs. In addition to losing weight, improving health and developing "breathing", you will also gain elastic buttocks by summer, with which you are not ashamed to appear on the beach, even in a swimsuit with a thong.
Having appreciated all the benefits of walking, each person should make the first effort on himself and maintain it throughout his life. Unless, of course, he does not want to remind himself of a ruin in his shallow old age and regret the missed opportunities. After all, walking is just fun. If you can't walk aimlessly, set yourself the task of walking to the beach, museum, or favorite café. Or find a like-minded person who will be curious to talk to while walking. Or get yourself a dog.
Late evening walks are beneficial for many reasons, but not everyone wants to go outside in the cold winter once again.
But it's summer now! So why not take advantage of all its gifts: warm air, mesmerizing nocturnal sounds and heady smells?
With just 4 walks a week, you will bring invaluable health benefits.
Grab your favorite sneakers and go for a walk today!
1. Peace and quiet
One of the main advantages of evening walks is that they provide the peace and tranquility we need so much.
Think about how much noise surrounds you during the day: passing cars, endless conversations in the office and at home, frolicking children, always chattering TV and radio ... You can't count everything!
Without noticing it, under the influence of noise you are exposed to stress!
An evening exercise will bring the body and mind the long-awaited calmness and will relieve the stress accumulated during the day.
2. Getting rid of depression
Prolonged stay within four walls contributes to the appearance of feelings of depression and despondency, even if you look outside for short periods of time.
Taking a leisurely stroll in the open air in the evening will help you to get rid of the depressing sensations. This practice is great not only for the prevention, but also for the treatment of depression.
Walking is a great way to add physical activity to your daily routine.
However, don't set your pace too fast!
Slow walking has been shown to be much more effective in lowering cortisol levels than brisk and vigorous walking.
4. Pleasant sounds
Have you ever listened to the sounds of a summer night?
The chirping of crickets and the rustle of tree foliage are some of the most mesmerizing sounds in nature.
At such times, the brain releases dopamine in large quantities, sending calming signals to our body.
5. Synthesis of melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that puts our body into a resting mode. However, its production can be suppressed by spending too much time indoors or sitting in front of a luminous monitor screen.
Instead of watching TV before bed, take a walk and then take a hot bath.
This will promote the production of melatonin, which means deep and revitalizing sleep.
6. Relief of tension
Surely, in the life of each of you there are problems at work or in the family.
Walking in the evening or at night, when the world around you seems to be plunging into calmness, you yourself will notice how the accumulated tension will literally dissolve.
7. Good mood
Another great property of late walks is that after them, the next day, you will wake up in a great mood.
Walking stimulates the body's production of serotonin, the hormone responsible for good mood.
After late exercise, you will not only fall asleep faster, but in the morning you will see the world in brighter colors!
Now you can see how useful it is to be outdoors before bed.
The best time for walking is between 7 and 9 pm, when the sun is just beginning to sink towards the horizon.
Do you walk in the evenings?
We continue to smash the myths.
One of the common recommendations for optimizing sleep is to go for a walk in the evening. Walking before bed can be helpful as a ritual to take your mind off your mind or your stupid internet news reading. In this case, access to fresh air (in the city?) And physical activity are of completely indirect importance.
As you know, in order for a healthy sleep to occur, two conditions are necessary:
- Sufficient serotonin neurotransmitter reserve in the brain
- Relaxed, horizontal position of the body in the interval from 23 - 4 o'clock in pitch darkness.
Based on these simple conditions, you need to walk not in the evening before going to bed, but during the day in the daytime. And all because the accumulation of serotonin (daytime neurohormone of activity and joy) occurs in the pineal gland in sunlight (ultraviolet light). At the same time, it is advisable to use the amino acid tryptophan with food (there is a lot of it in cheese, milk, dark chocolate, bananas) and always something carbohydrate. This is why it is so bad to sleep on an empty stomach - especially when you follow stupid advice about not eating before bed.
Serotonin under the action of enzymes turns into melatonin - a substance that immerses us in the arms of Morpheus. Melatonin is produced only in the dark with the participation of donors - serotonin and tryptophan.
The peak melatonin levels in the body (the rate at which serotonin is converted into melatonin) occurs between three and four o'clock in the morning. At this point, the human body contains up to 70% of melatonin from the entire daily value.
Lack of sunlight due to the shortening of daylight hours in the autumn-winter period is the reason for insufficient production of serotonin in the human body and, as a result, seasonal depression, the classic symptoms of which are melancholy, apathy, loss of pleasure, impaired thinking, memory and attention, lethargy , increased appetite, craving for sweets and starchy foods, leading to weight gain, daytime sleepiness and difficulty waking up in the morning.
Everyone knows that playing sports has a beneficial effect on our health. However, not everyone, the same health allows you to go in for active sports.
And not everyone can afford a visit to the gym. But walking, the natural state of our body, is available to everyone.
What is the advantage of walking? This type of sports activity does not require special physical training, and has practically no contraindications. Special equipment is also not required, just suitable clothing and footwear.
- Comfortable clothes and shoes. (Sneakers work best)
- Be sure to bring drinking water with you. Drinking during physical activity is necessary very often to prevent dehydration of the body.
- If you're planning a long walk, grab a snack, such as sandwiches.
- Is it hot outside? Take a hat and sunscreen with you.
- And if the weather is changeable, take care of what you can put on your shoulders in case of a cold snap.
- Choose proven, safe places for walking, especially if you are walking in the evening.
Arm yourself with a strong desire and go to the nearest park, forest, or any other green area. You can take your friends with you, or go for a walk with the whole family, together with the children. You are guaranteed a pleasant time.
Benefits to your health
The force of gravity acting on our body in motion causes bone density and reduces the leaching of calcium from the body. Bones become stronger and healthier.
Physical activity and sunlight increase the release of the hormone serotonin in the body, which helps to improve mood and has a positive effect on a person's psychological health.
And of course, weight loss cannot be ignored, which is perfectly promoted by walking. By the way, moderate but prolonged physical activity burns much more fat than a fast, but not long run.
A person weighing 70-75 kilograms walking at a free pace can burn about 250-300 calories per hour. And if you take with you any weighting material, for example a backpack, this indicator can be increased.
Let's take a look at what walks give us
- Strengthens bones, which prevents the development of osteoporosis.
- Improving mood and beneficial effects on mental health.
- Losing weight and improving overall health.
- Delaying the aging of the body.
- Lowering blood pressure and preventing cardiovascular disease.
- Physical endurance increases.
Hiking before bed
Exercise, by itself, significantly improves sleep quality. This is confirmed by numerous studies.
Enough 30 minute sessions and insomnia will recede. However, it is about physical activity in the morning or afternoon.
Intense physical activity before bedtime is not desirable, as it leads to overexcitation of the body. But with light walks, it is exactly the opposite.
This type of sports activity contributes to the saturation of blood with oxygen and psychological peace.
But even you need to walk 2-3 hours before bedtime, so that the body has time to stabilize. And if you decide to go in for sports right before bed, then give preference to yoga or Pilates. This is great for promoting relaxation.
Everyone knows about the benefits of physical activity. Almost every day, new areas of fitness and training systems appear, those who want to improve themselves visit gyms and clutter up the apartment with various simulators, but over time they become convinced that the rhythm of modern life and a constant training regime do not go well with a friend.
At the same time, the ideal means of maintaining good physical shape, as well as balancing the phases of activity and rest of the body is available to absolutely everyone and does not require spending money. We are talking about the natural way of human movement - walking.
Why go for a walk before bed?
Fitness trainers and rehabilitation doctors consider walking to be very effective, and at the same time a soft cardio load, which has practically no contraindications. Long-term rhythmic load on the muscles of the legs, abdomen and chest when walking activates breathing, blood circulation and metabolic processes, which helps burn excess fat, reduces cholesterol, and stimulates the work of all body systems.
Walking in the fresh air saturates the body with oxygen and has one more remarkable property - the psychophysical and emotional mood of a person comes in line with the environment. A leisurely walk in a quiet and calm area acts as a pacifying, conducive to relaxation and rethinking of the information received during the day.
As a result, a walk before bedtime is one of the most effective ways to normalize sleep and is included in the complex of general tonic for many diseases. The main positive factors for evening walks are as follows:
- Light physical activity helps to relieve stress and more quickly switch the state of the body from wakefulness to sleep.
- The activation of oxygen metabolism improves the nutrition of the brain and helps to normalize the course of nervous processes both in it and throughout the body.
- The combination of rhythmic physical activity and deep breathing improves recovery processes and increases general immunity.
- The combined effect of a uniform unhurried rhythm of a walk, contemplation of the evening landscape and the realization that all matters have already been completed, gives a very deep psychophysiological effect that allows you to eliminate the negative consequences of stress at all levels and increase the stability of the whole organism, including intellectual processes.
- The habit of constant evening walks helps to develop a certain rhythm of work and rest, make it easier to fall asleep at a certain time and make sleep more healthy and sound.
People who constantly practice evening walks talk not only about their beneficial effect on night sleep, but also note a decrease in body weight and an improvement in gait and posture, and most importantly, a change in attitude towards life, in particular, a more balanced and calm resolution of problems, stability in conflicts, the ability to objectively analyze and make quick decisions.
Rules for evening walks before bedtime
The basic rule, which must be strictly observed, is the following: a walk before going to bed should serve as relaxation and tranquility, therefore, in front of it, all tasks for today must be completed. It is best to set aside a certain amount of time for walking shortly before bed. Plan an approximate walking time - in cold and not very good weather, you can limit yourself to twenty minutes, in spring or fine autumn, the duration of your stay in the air can reach one and a half hours. Longer walks can lead to fatigue and sleep disturbance.
You should choose clothes according to the season and temperature, paying special attention to. It should fit snugly on the leg, be light and comfortable, and also appropriate for the season. The choice of location is also very important - the greener and quieter your walking route, the better. Of course, it is not always possible to walk in a park area or on the embankment, in which case you should avoid places with a crowd of people, loud music, heavy traffic, and also making a depressing impression.
It is better to abandon the common habit of walking down the street with an audio player - music or an audiobook can create an unwanted mood, give preference to the sounds of nature, or, in extreme cases, pick up slow soothing music. It is advisable to end the evening walk an hour and a half before bedtime and devote the remaining time to a cup of tea, reading, pleasant family communication (it is very good to go out for an evening walk with the whole family), and water procedures.
Within a few days, you will notice the beneficial changes that have occurred thanks to the walk before bed. Most importantly, maintain the regularity of this very useful habit, abandoning it only in case of force majeure and resuming it as soon as possible.
Discretion never hurts
Despite the fact that a walk is the most biologically sound way to positively affect the body, certain rules regarding it must still be followed. First of all, eat dinner no later than an hour before walking and you will avoid unnecessary pressure of a full stomach on the diaphragm, digestive problems and poor breathing. In no case do not walk until you are tired, the criterion for a good walk is light but pleasant fatigue.
If for some reason you have been moving a little lately, do not rush to force the load. Start with a twenty minute walk, gradually increasing the length. If you have an increased heartbeat, shortness of breath or chest tightness, lethargy, dizziness, or other discomfort, take a break on the nearest bench and return home.
Walking gait is also very important. Choose shoes that are appropriate for size and have a springy, flexible sole. Pay attention to your clothes as well, since hypothermia or overheating during walks is not so rare.
When walking, be sure to monitor your posture, do not allow a pinched chest, a protruding abdomen and a lowered head. Keep track of the frequency and duration of inhalation and exhalation, it is very good to coordinate them with the rhythm of steps in accordance with the recommendations of the yogis; while breathing should be calm and smooth ..
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