If walking was the color, it would be the new black.
There is no shortage of evidence that walking is a truly mysterious drug. Exercise that helps you lose weight, extend your lifespan, reduce your risk of illness, improve your heart health, keep your joints moving, and help your mental health.
“You need to take different pills to get the different benefits of going for a walk,” said David Bishop, a researcher at the Institute of Health and Sports at the University of Victoria.
Therefore, in 2018, the Royal College of General Practicism recommended that British people actively walk for 10 minutes each day.
But above all, the simple act of placing one foot in front of the other “just makes you feel better,” said Sae Yamamoto Crane.
A 59-year-old woman from Canberra is Parkrun’s outreach ambassador.
Parkrun is a 5km event for runners held every Saturday morning in parks and reserves in Australia and around the world.
Despite its name, Parkrun estimates that 10 to 15 percent of participants are pedestrians. Crane believes that there are some events that can reach as high as 30 percent.
The crane tried to run, but it wasn’t for her.
“I was absolutely hopeless with that,” she said.
However, three ACL knee operations have since sealed the transaction.
“I walked back to Parkrun,” she said.
Slow down and stay connected
Four years ago, when she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease psoriatic arthritis, Crane was thrown another curve ball.
She said the illness could cause considerable pain. And because she uses immunosuppressive drugs, COVID-19 made mixing with people indoors particularly dangerous.
“It was easy to get used to people around people slowly by returning from COVID and walking in the parkrun,” Crane said.
“Walking Park Run was great for me. It means I can be there with all my friends who are runners, but there are also a lot of people who are walking friends.
Keeping a distance is everything
It’s not just cranes. Many people can’t run because of age, mobility, weight, fitness, injury, etc.
In most cases, walking is just as good an option.
An AusPlay study that records trends in physical activity in Australians shows that walking is the most popular form of exercise.
And COVID really enhanced the results, especially for women.
As Professor Bishop points out, walking may not be as efficient as running when it comes to calories burned per minute, but when you measure calories burned by distance, it’s about the same.
“You can run 4-5 km in 30 minutes or walk the same distance in an hour. Whatever you do on a regular basis, you’ll probably get the most benefit,” he said. ..
“You can imagine that the exponential increase from sitting on the couch to walking will bring the greatest improvement to your health, and you will do more by doing more intense activity. You will get an improvement in it, “he said.
Professor Bishop focuses on some of the research that seeks to find the right level of exercise for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
He increasingly said that health practitioners and physiologists see exercise as a medicine.
“And for those who are competent and have no other contraindications, it would be beneficial to introduce a slightly higher dose of exercise.”
The goal is to try to find a magical place for enough exercise before doing too much damage.
More exercise, more benefits — to some extent
The sports world is now talking about reverse U. The more exercise you do, the more beneficial it will be — but going too far and over-exercising can lead to increased injuries.
That’s exactly what happened to legendary Australian running coach Nic Bideau, who has coached countless Australian athletes, including Cathy Freeman, Craig Mottram, and now Stewart McSwein.
After running for over 30 years for an hour a day, my back hurts every time I run.
The final blow occurred on a New Zealand bushwalk when he fell into a slippery rock and severely tore the cartilage in his lower back.
“When I had an x-ray, the surgeon said,” I have a real problem with my hip. If I want to walk properly, I need to replace my hip. ” “
He was just 54 years old.
It was a painful medicine to swallow for a man whose life was running, especially when his surgeon told him that he would wear his hip prosthesis faster, especially if he returned to the run.
“If I had time again, when I turned 40, I would reduce that (his running frequency) to three or four times a week,” he said.
“It’s a really efficient way to regain health and run. And I loved it and got a good feeling from it, and you always feel really healthy and energetic after it.
However, Bido, who is not a half-doer, began to walk with courage.
“I still walk at least an hour every morning and afternoon, and another hour in the evening, even when I’m abroad or traveling,” he said.
Now 62 years old, he said he walked about 20 kilometers every day.
“When I started, I’m often really stiff and about 90 years old, but when I’m back and relaxed and moving, I’m ready for the day,” Bido said.
“I’ve wiped out the thoughts I had left over from the previous day, and all my plans for this day and the next day are alive and ready to embark on after that walk.”
He doesn’t lie. He rather wants to run.
He says walking for him does not offer the same enjoyment, but it offers much of the same benefits.
“You have that sensation, endorphins. You feel like you are alive, active, breathing, and you have begun your day,” he said. rice field.
This is exactly what Professor Bishop and Susanne Crane say.
You don’t have to be Nickbido and you don’t have to walk 20 kilometers a day to enjoy the benefits of walking. You don’t have to walk 10,000 steps (numbers pulled from the air as a marketing exercise to sell Japanese pedometers in the 1960s).
Professor Bishop attaches great importance to the cumulative effect of regular walking.
“The recommendation is to try about 150 minutes of activity a week, and once you get there, you can then start working on strength a bit.”
Crane said anyone looking for a place to start exercising should consider parkruns.
“It’s not about race, it’s about taking people there and making them comfortable,” she said.
In fact, the average time for parkruns is slowing. Crane suggests that this is because 5km more people are walking than before.
“The benefits to the community are increasing — from those with medical conditions to those who are lonely in need of social inclusion,” she said.
“You can enjoy life like any other person. It’s important to be with others.”
Then why not go for a walk?
ABC Sports is affiliated Park run To promote the benefits of physical activity and community participation.
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