The relationship between exercise and health
has long been established, leading health experts to recommend a
minimum of two-and-a-half hours or more of moderate exercise each week
for optimal health and longevity. When it comes to walking only,
moderate implies a brisk pace of about three miles per hour. For the
first time, researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) looked
specifically at how walking above and below this minimum level affects
health, specifically the health of older Americans, and the news is
good.
Physical activity,
including walking only, is associated with a lower
risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and to some degree, breast and
colon cancers. Walking lowers the markers of some of these diseases,
such as insulin, cholesterol and blood pressure levels. The ACS study,
published in the October 19, 2017, issue of American Journal of
Preventive Medicine, also found a strong association between walking and
reduced risk of dying from respiratory illness.
Overall, the more you walk, the lower your risk. But these
researchers also found that walking below the minimum recommendation as
your only form of exercise can extend your life when compared to someone
who is inactive. They did not find a significant difference between
meeting and exceeding recommended levels in those for whom walking is
their only physical activity.
In addition to disease prevention and longevity, walking and other
physical activities are also associated with better mental health and
improved cognitive
functioning. Given that walking is a free and convenient exercise that
can be practiced anywhere without special equipment, the researchers
describe walking as the perfect exercise for older men and women who are
capable.
Harvard Medical School experts point out that walking can be as effective as medication for relieving stress and staving off depression.
To help you keep up a walking habit, they say it’s important to tie
your walks to other events of the day, such as waking up or taking a
lunch break, so that you start to associate walking with these
activities, and you have a daily reminder that it’s time to walk.
To keep your walks interesting, they also recommend listening to
audiobooks or music while you walk (at low volume, with only one earbud,
so you stay aware of your surroundings). Other recommendations include
getting a dog (or borrowing a dog or signing up as a volunteer dog
walker at a local shelter), walking with an exercise buddy, changing the
time of day you walk, and continually finding new walking routes within
your community to help keep your routine fresh.
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