| Is Walking Good Exercise? | | | | Sports - December 2008) |
| In this day and age of pills and gimmicks, what if I | | | | Intense exercise, on the other hand, was only |
| told you that there was something you could do | | | | found to reduce hemostasis. |
| that would dramatically reduce your chances of | | | | Walking Your Way Thin - Walking For Fat Loss |
| dying from a chronic disease, improve your | | | | So, as we can see above, walking is a necessity |
| cardiovascular health, and help you lose a bunch of | | | | to keeping healthy and avoiding disease. |
| weight? | | | | But what about losing weight? |
| Well, put away your credit card, because it's not a | | | | A Simple Solution to Fat Loss - Eat Less, Move |
| pill, bizarre exercise device, or even an e-book. In | | | | More |
| fact, it's not even for sale. | | | | Can just eating a little less and doing more activity |
| What could deliver all of these benefits? | | | | lead to serious weight loss? |
| It's simple: walking. | | | | Let's look at our famous friend, Jared Fogle, who |
| Can Walking Help Prevent Disease? | | | | I'm sure you have seen on those Subway |
| Researchers studying the relationship between | | | | commercials. |
| physical activity and mortality discovered an | | | | His approach to losing weight was simple: He ate |
| interesting connection: The more time a person | | | | less every day, simply having a 6" turkey sub for |
| spends sitting, the more likely they are to die of a | | | | lunch, and 12" veggie sub for dinner. |
| chronic disease such as heart disease, cancer, or | | | | Jared increased his activity by walking 1.5 miles |
| diabetes. (Sitting Time and Mortality from All | | | | per day from home to work instead of taking the |
| Causes, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer - The | | | | bus. |
| American College of Sports Medicine - May 2009) | | | | What were his results? |
| What was really interesting about this study was | | | | After one year of doing this regimen every day, |
| that sitting time was related to a higher chronic | | | | Jared lost an amazing 245 pounds, going from |
| disease death rate, REGARDLESS of the person's | | | | 425 to 180 lbs! |
| exercise habits. | | | | Pretty simple, right? |
| So, even if you work out intensely 5 times per | | | | To Summarize |
| week, if you spend most of your non-exercising | | | | - Walk to prevent chronic disease- take the stairs |
| time sitting, you are still at a higher risk for death | | | | instead of the elevator, park further away from |
| due to chronic disease. | | | | your office, go for a walk instead of sitting at |
| Walking vs. High Intensity Exercise for | | | | your desk during lunch. |
| Cardiovascular Health | | | | - If you are already active, take advantage of |
| While no one will deny the benefits of intense | | | | walking's anti-inflammatory abilities by adding |
| exercise, it does not offer the same | | | | periods of walking throughout the week. |
| cardiovascular health benefits as merely going for | | | | - Walk to lose weight - Eat less, and walk more! |
| a walk. | | | | Be consistent - do this every day and you will |
| In one study, researchers found that just 30 | | | | lose A LOT of weight of the course of a year. (I |
| minutes of walking per day reduced inflammation | | | | would also add in a couple 15 minute sessions of |
| (leads to artery hardening) and hemostasis (weak, | | | | resistance training, such as pushups, pullups, and |
| slow blood flow). (Walking, Vigorous Physical | | | | squats, to help build lean muscle mass while you |
| Activity, and Markers of Hemostasis and | | | | are losing fat) |
| Inflammation in Healthy Men and Women - | | | | So, to answer the question, "Is walking good |
| Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in | | | | exercise?" I would say, enthusiastically, YES! |