Never underestimate the power of brisk walking. Doing this type of cardio daily and reaching your step goals can help you lose body fat, improve cardio, increase energy, improve coordination and balance, and reduce tension and stress. When make your immune system stronger, according to mayo clinicIt goes without saying that if you want to stay fit as you age, it’s best to lace up your sneakers and hit the trails to soak up these benefits. We’ve rounded up his five walking habits that slow aging.
Read on to learn how adding a daily walk to your routine can improve your health. Your mind and body will thank you.
One way to increase your steps and burn calories is to avoid elevators and escalators altogether. Opt for stairs instead so your body can work harder to get you where you need to be.
Another pro tip is to park farther away from your destination. Many of my clients who have office jobs and are sedentary do this to increase their daily steps. This is really helpful.
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If your goal is to increase your daily activity, you should incorporate at least two walks into your routine.A minimum of 30 minutes is required. To optimize health and slow aging, we need to do more than that. An easy way to plan two walks is one at lunchtime or early afternoon and the other after dinner.
After all, research shows that taking a light walk after a meal can lower your body’s insulin and blood sugar levels. Web MD). He is the lead author of this study and holds a Ph.D. Aidan Buffey, Physical Education and Sports Science student at the University of Limerick, explains: [after eating]that’s when you get the advantage of not having a glucose spike.
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Want to make your walk a little more challenging? In that case, please bring a light weight. The extra load you’re carrying allows you to work a little harder while walking, helping you burn more calories and incorporate your upper body during your workout.
As a caveat, don’t choose weights that are too heavy. This is because it can disrupt your natural walking pattern. Start with 1-2 pounds.
If you are a proud dog parent, we encourage you to bring your dog along to enjoy the fun of cardio. It also helps your dog to be more active as you can walk more than if you were alone. What could be better than that?
A final walking habit that slows aging is alternating between a steady pace and a “power walking” speed. This will increase your heart rate and burn more calories. You can start by doing power walking in intervals of 20 to 45 seconds in between your normal walking paces.
Tim Liu, CSCS
Tim Liu (CSCS) is an online fitness and nutrition coach based in Los Angeles. Read more about Tim
