why walk?

You may have noticed all the articles that have been written recently promoting walking as a perfect form of exercise. Walking is easy on your joints, nearly everyone can do it and there is minimal equipment needed to participate. In fact, nearly 90% of adults aged 44-56 listed walking as their favorite form of exercise in a recent survey conducted by Del Webb.

There are definite benefits of walking to both your physical and mental wellness. On the physical side, walking burns calories and can have a significant impact on your figure. Need proof? Read on:

A University of Tennessee in Knoxville study with pedometers revealed women who averaged more than 10,000 steps a day had 40% less body fat and waist and hip measurements that were four to six inches narrower than those who averaged fewer than 6,000 steps. (Los Angeles Times, May 17, 2004)

Another great example of the benefits of walking is a look at the Amish:

Researchers measured the steps of 98 Amish adults with pedometers and found men took an average of 18,425 steps a day and women took 14,196. Compare that to about 4,000 steps for the average American adult, and it is easy to see why only 4% of Amish adults are obese, versus 31% of the general population. (Cooking Light, July 2004)

There are also major benefits of walking as it relates to stress and other mental wellness issues. When you are walking, you can separate yourself from some of the stress in your day. It gives you a break from your computer, your phone and your Blackberry. Since you are not learning a new skill, you can focus your attention on relationships, solving problems, your purpose in life, or just enjoy the scenery.

Again, walking is easy and can be accomplished almost anywhere. You have a head start as you are already accumulating steps throughout the day – these steps count!

Taking a walk provides an opportunity for you to brainstorm, spend time with family and friends, or just decompress after a full day. You can walk indoors or outdoors. You can walk alone or with family and friends. You can walk at work, in your home, while shopping, while on vacation, or as a planned activity. WalkStyles wants to help you achieve the physical and mental benefits of living a walking lifestyle. For more about how we began, read how WalkStyles got started.

To maximize the benefits from walking, you may need to work on increasing your steps each day. A great goal for all of us is to do a minimum of 10,000 steps a day.