5 Simple Walking Tips to Get Healthier
Looking for an easy and affordable way to boost your endurance, bone and muscle strength, and cardiovascular system, as well as reduce your blood pressure, body fat, and risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes? All that can be accomplished by literally taking more steps.
Walking is a great form of physical activity that almost anyone can do. You don’t need any special equipment or an expensive gym membership to enjoy the health benefits of walking. Walking in your neighborhood or outdoors is free and can be a great family activity.
Before you hit the streets to walk, you may want to learn more about the cities with the safest streets. Walkability is one factor that may affect auto insurance rates, so make sure to get multiple quotes to find the best deal on auto insurance.
We’ll provide expert tips on several ways to incorporate more walking into your everyday life. We’ll also share the best areas in the U.S. to walk, including the most walkable cities and the best states for pedestrian safety.
The Benefits of Walking
Walking is a great cardiorespiratory endurance activity that can improve the health of your heart, lungs, and blood vessels. It can also improve your muscular strength and muscular endurance.
This activity is also great for building bone strength and can lower the risk for many chronic health conditions like cardiovascular disease, some types of cancer, and diabetes. Walking can also lower stress, improve sleep quality, boost mental health, improve skin health, and help with weight management.
You don’t have to take long walks to reap some of the benefits of walking. There is research to show that a short walk of 10 to 15 minutes a day can increase longevity.
Walking outdoors helps boost mental health and promotes relaxation. You can also benefit from getting some vitamin D from the sunlight when you are outside. Sometimes it just helps you clear your mind when you go for a long walk.
If you walk with a friend, family member, or neighbor, this can also boost your social health. It can be a great time to catch up with a loved one while getting some activity at the same time.
The Physical Activity Guidelines recommend 150 minutes of cardiorespiratory endurance activities weekly for the best health benefits. You can break the 150 minutes into the intervals that work best for you. For example, one option is you could do a 30-minute walk five days a week.
You may also be able to pay less on your auto insurance by walking more. If you’re close enough to work, shops, or restaurants, you can walk to instead of drive — perhaps enough to garner a low-mileage insurance discount.
How to Walk More
You don’t need fancy equipment or a gym membership to stay committed to a walking routine. You can find free places to walk in most cities and towns. Public parks, walking trails, or neighborhood sidewalks provide many safe walkable areas.
If you prefer to walk indoors or on a treadmill, there are many options for you. Many malls or shopping centers offer free walking hours before they open.
Many gyms or community centers have inexpensive monthly memberships. Some even offer a “walking club” with discounted rates to use an indoor track or to walk during certain hours.
If you have trouble staying motivated, have a friend or family member meet up with you. Another tip to stay motivated is to schedule your walk like an appointment or make it part of your daily routine. Some people like to walk first thing when they wake up or right after work.
Find ways to integrate more steps into your daily routine. Park further away at the grocery store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, take a walk break instead of a coffee break, or walk to a coworker’s office instead of sending an email.
5 Simple Walking Tips
There are a few simple tips to help you get the most out of your walking routine. These walking tips are for beginners or seasoned walkers.
#1 – Dress Appropriately
Make sure you have comfortable clothing, supportive shoes, and a safe place to walk. Some neighborhoods have good sidewalks, but you may need to find a local park or walking trail if your neighborhood isn’t safe for walking.
#2 – Aim for Moderate Intensity
When walking, your intensity should be in the moderate range. Walk quickly enough to get your heart rate up during the activity. It should feel harder than a stroll, but you should still be able to talk during the walk.
You can use a smartwatch or heart rate monitor to track your heart rate to determine the intensity. You can also ask yourself how hard the activity feels to you. If it feels between a 4 to 7 on a scale from 1 to 10, you are at a moderate level of intensity.
#3 – Build Up Your Fitness
If you are new to walking or it’s been a while since you had a regular walking routine, you will need to build up your fitness. Start with what you can do and build from there. You will find it getting easier when you build up your endurance.
For the first week of walking, keep track of how long or how far you walk. Each week, you can try to increase this amount by about 10% to improve your fitness. You could also use your smartwatch or smartphone to track your daily steps and increase that amount each week.
If you get winded easily or after a few minutes of walking, take a rest when you need it. Try to walk a little longer each time you walk or each week.
#4 – Listen to Music, an Audiobook, or a Podcast
Use your walking time to catch up on the latest podcast, or audiobook, or listen to some tunes. This distraction will also make the time pass by much quicker.
#5 – Set Goals
A successful walking routine should have some goals. Your goals could be to improve how long or how far you walk. It could also be to reach the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory activity each week by walking.
Your goals don’t have to be the same each day or each week. Some days your walking goal might just be to de-stress or boost your mental health.
The Most Walkable US Cities
Many US cities are “walkable” which means the environmental design enables and promotes walking. You may also want to research the most walkable areas in your town or city. Research shows that walkable communities have health and cognitive benefits for older adults.
Walkability can also affect your auto insurance rates, depending on where you live. You should meet with an insurance agent or compare quotes online to find the best deals on auto insurance.
New York City, NY is the most walkable city in the US. Other walkable cities include San Francisco, CA, Boston, MA, Miami, FL, and Philadelphia, PA.
Walking is a great activity that almost anyone can do anytime, anywhere. A good walking routine can transform your life by improving your physical, mental, and emotional health.
Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash