Ever since you learned how to walk, it has been part of your day.  It’s a natural means to an end.   If you want a snack, you walk to the kitchen.  If you are at school, walking gets you from the classroom to the lunchroom.  At work, from office to office or at home from room to room.  Everywhere where you go, walking is a necessary action.  Doctors recommend 10,000 steps per day.  If it takes 10 minutes to get in 100 steps, in about a hundred minutes per day, you can rack up that 10,000!  Here are some of the known health benefits of walking.

1. 50% of all deaths in the United States are linked to heart disease.  Walking is known to reduce the risk of heart disease.  It can also help someone recover from heart surgery.
2. Walking can reduce blood pressure.  When you have high blood pressure it causes stress on the heart and eventually, it can enlarge it. When you walk, increasing your heart rate, increases oxygen to your muscles and lowers blood pressure for a period of time.
3. Walking and regular exercise help increase HDL and lower LDL.   HDL is the good kind of cholesterol that helps remove fat from your blood, LDL is the bad kind, that can clog the arteries.  A healthy diet in combination with daily vigorous walking boosts the results.
4. Walking helps your blood flow and burns sugars in your bloodstream, therefore, helping prevent diabetes.
5. Walking helps you lose weight and keep it off. You don’t have to have fancy equipment or even go to a gym to walk more!  It helps you burn more calories and increase your metabolism.
6. Walk gets that heart pumping, releasing endorphins and thereby increasing your sense of well being and calming the mind.  You can also think and process on walks.  This is one of the benefits that help keep me centered and calm.
7. Walking can help you sleep more soundly.  When you use more energy to exercise or walk, it will also require your body to shut down and repair.  This can result in a much better nights’ sleep.
8. Improved Mobility is also a benefit of walking.  Your body learns to balance and adapt as you walk on uneven surfaces, improving your muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments.
9. Walking can help improve your sex life!  Do I need to say more? According to a study of women, aged 45-55, cited in the Psychology Today article, those that exercised and engaged in a walking for fitness program experienced an increase in libido and improved sexual satisfaction.
10. Walking can also help improve your self-esteem.  Taking a small, conscious action to move more during your day, can help you feel good about yourself.  As your weight drops, your emotional state improves, and your rest improves, the bi-product is an overall confidence that comes from doing something that is quite natural to us.

For me, committing to taking walk breaks in the day, helps me reset, get some Vitamin D, and it’s energizing.  This is a habit I’m determined to incorporate in 2021.  If you commit to walking your 10,000 steps per day, I’d love to hear your results.  Please share in the comments on the blog or visit my instagram and share your story with me!  We can empower and encourage eachother!