Walking

Today’s post is about one of my favorite activities: walking.

I love to walk. When I used to live in NYC, I walked everywhere: uptown, downtown, crosstown. Although my family and I are in the suburbs now, luckily we live walking distance to our little “suburban downtown” and I walk into town pretty much every day. In those first few difficult months after giving birth to my daughter, getting out for a walk helped me maintain my sanity. I try to walk at least once a day, every day, weather permitting.

There are many benefits to walking. From a fitness standpoint, it’s a great low impact exercise that is easy on the joints. You don’t need any equipment other than a good pair of shoes. If you pump your arms and engage your core, walking can be a fully body workout. It is a great workout for moms who want to bring their little ones in the stroller. You can walk anywhere and anytime; for example: during a lunch break, early in the morning, during the evening, while on vacation at the beach, or inside on a treadmill. Plus it’s free!

Research has shown that regular walking may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and certain cancers, and lower blood pressure. In addition, it keeps your bones and joints healthy, and works your muscles. Another obvious benefit is that walking burns calories, which helps with weight loss.

There are emotional benefits to walking as well. Walking has been found to be a mood booster, and a great way to combat depression and anxiety. Further, it may promote better sleep and help with stress.

One of the biggest excuses that people give for lack of exercise is time. So, if you can’t fit 30+ minutes of walking into your schedule, try to break it up into 3 ten minute increments. Consider walking to work or find another way to incorporate it into your daily life. I pull out the stroller most days and walk my daughter to the playground, then walk home, stopping to do errands on the way. I find that it is easier than dealing with getting my daughter in and out of the carseat. If you are struggling to adhere to a walking program, get a buddy to walk with. This will help keep you accountable and can make the walk feel more like a social outing.

For those who feel that walking is boring, download some new music and bring your iPod with you. Another great thing to do is to change up your routes and explore a different neighborhood.

If you want to make your walking workout more challenging, try to incorporate a hill. I find that this is a great way to add a challenge to my daily walk. Another idea is to break into a run every few minutes for some interval training. One of the things that I like to do is to stop when I find a bench and use it for push ups and tricep dips. If you want even more of a challenge, go on a hike.

Be sure to wear proper shoes, drink enough water and stretch your muscles after. With this beautiful spring weather, now is a great time to incorporate waking into your daily routine. It’s ok to start slow and build up. When someone is starting a new fitness routine, I often suggest aiming to exercise 4 days a week, which is a reasonable goal.

Remember: the hardest part about exercise is getting out the door! If you can do that, the rest will be easy.