Walking

MORE and more people are now realizing just how beneficial and safe walking is. I know in time we’ll see even more organizations encouraging people to walk to keep them fit. That’s good! This is not surprising when you consider how good walking is for the total body. From lungs to legs, back to brain, walking is the best way to keep the entire body finely tuned and trim as millions of health conscious and weight-conscious folks are finding out.

Brisk walking balances the major muscles and brings your body into better alignment. There is more upper body movement than there is in running. It is a unique, safe exercise with its own special qualities that make it valuable.

Muscles in motion

Consider all the good things that happen to so many muscles when you walk. When you take a good strides, your pelvis shifts, your buttocks muscles contract and the lead leg pulls you forward as your trailing leg pushes, a process that alternately flexes and relaxes front and back leg muscles. As your hips stretch forward and backward with each stride, they also move from side to side so your trailing leg can swing by. This action works on your hip muscles, keeps your hip joints flexible and makes them tug rhythmically on your lower abdominal muscles, all of which could lead to a flatter tummy.

As you pump your arms with each stride you are building the flow and rhythm of walking. You are constantly contracting and relaxing different sets of muscles in your shoulders and forearms with each movement. Plus, each time you swing a leg around in front of you, muscles in your abdomen, side, back and chest contract to hold your body erect. On top of this, the more vigorous breathing expands your chest and lungs and activates your diaphragm, abdomen and ribs.

Walking also affects the spine in positive ways. It strengthens muscles in the pelvis and lower back which may help some people with back problems. An informal survey done among 500 people with a variety of back problems showed that walking was helpful in the long run for 98 percent of survey participants who make it a regular part of their routine. Many of them said they believe walking makes their backs stronger and more flexible and improves overall muscle tone.

Walking at least three kilometers a day was one of the 25 most often mentioned ways of easing back pain. The respondents also noted that walking at least 30 minutes a day, four times a week greatly reduces stress, a major contributing factor to back pain. While the survey did not address weight loss, it is safe to assume that more than a few of the backache sufferers shed a pound or two while seeking pain relief, because walking is a great way to lose weight. A 150 pound man, for instance, can burn 82 calories per kilometer while walking. 3.5 to 4 kilometers per hour. Up to the rate to 4.5 kilometers an hour, that same man can burn at least 95 to 100 calories with each kilometers stepped off.

Add weights and burn more

If you want to burn even more calories and increase your level of aerobic fitness in the process, try hand weights. Use hand weights during walking and you can burn more calories per kilometer than you would while walking or running. This 150-pound man for example could lose 100 to 110 calories a kilometer while walking four kilometers per hour or 120 calories a kilometer when walking five kilometers per hour if he carried 5 pounds weights. If he drops the hand weights and runs at a pace of 8 kilometers per hour he will burn only between 90 to 100 calories each kilometers. If you opt for hand weights I suggest starting with two or three pound weights and gradually working up. Carry them with your arms bent and swinging. Arm movement must be controlled because you can damage delicate elbow and shoulder tissues if the weights swing about indiscriminately. Carrying weights at your sides or using a weight belt accomplishes little because the weights are not used actively in the walk. Ankle weights are not recommended because they affect foot placement and walking style which could lead to injuries.

Where you walk also affects the number of calories you lose. Walking in sand or fleshly plowed earth can boost calorie burn by an average of 30 percent. You can also upgrade your calorie burn by walking uphill. At a pace of 6 kilometers per hour if you walk up a 5 percent grade, a hill that will rise about 5 feet for every 100 feet you cover, you will burn about 45 percent more calories than while walking on a flat surface.

Naturally the steeper the grade the more calories you will burn. A word of caution: Walking up grade is more strenuous than normal flatland walking and it strains your entire body especially your cardiovascular system. A 5 to 10 percent grade should cause no problem but a person should be in good shape to tackle anything steeper.

When you are out walking your muscles into better shape and shedding those unwanted pounds you will also be doing nice things for the rest of your body. Take your heart for instance. Walking gradually strengthens the heart muscle, so your heart pumps less and can rest more between beats. Walking helps cells use oxygen more efficiently which is crucial for people with cardiovascular diseases whose impaired circulation may cut back oxygen supplies to the body.

Walking also seems to help prevent blood platelets from clumping together and clogging arteries, a process that can lead to a stroke or heart attack. Researchers in Finland studying a group of men between the ages of 30 and 40 found the blood of those who jogged slowly or walk briskly for 45 to 60 minutes five times a week had less tendency to clot. The scientists speculate that the mild-intensity exercise lowers levels of a blood component that causes clotting. Just as important they note that these beneficial effects continued for a week after the men stopped exercising (circulation).

Walk away from heart disease

The evidence continues to mount that walking raises levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), the blood fats thought to protect against heart disease. The researchers at the University of Minnesota found that HDL levels rose significantly in obese young men who walked briskly for 90 minutes five days a week for 16 weeks. Walking has a downside but it’s a good for you decline: It can reduce high blood pressure in some cases. Doctors have found and agreed that for some people walking controls blood pressure better than drugs. I’m a strong believer of that because some of my clients who are hypertensive was able to reduce and control their blood pressure and return to normal a few weeks after they start walking.

Bone density also improves as you walk which is important to post menopausal women who must be concerned about the bone-degenerating disease called osteoporosis. Some of my clients who did their walking exercise seriously and at the same time they combined it weight training improved their bone density and stopped the progress of deterioration of their bone. They also found out that their energy levels rise because walking with combination of weight training can increase the muscles supply of glycogen (the fuel for physical activity) .

Walking even works on your nerves as evidenced when researchers at the University of Southern California asked for volunteers who considered themselves extremely nervous. Different means of relaxation were tried: a tranquilizer, a placebo (dummy pile), 15 minutes of walking at a heart rate of 100 beats per minute and 15 minutes of walking at a heart rate of 120 beats per minute. The test subjects found walking to be the best tranquilizer – Electrical activity in their muscles which occurs with any normal activity but intensifies when tension rises, decline 20 to 25 percent after walking at both the lower and higher heart rates. The researchers concluded that walking is more effective and safer than tranquilizers and you don’t have to worry about how it may interact with other medication you may be taking for medical problems.

Creative potential can also be tapped through walking. A brisk, sustained pace of about a kilometer every 15 minutes improves fitness levels, increases heart rate and gets more oxygen into the blood. All of which improve your clarity. So what more could you ask from a total-body exercise?