Walking: An Underrated Exercise You Are Not Doing Enough

Ever since we are born, we have been getting this from our parents and grandparents that during their time people used to more active and healthier. In fact, the majority of us agree with them but with a justification of unadulterated food options at that time (As adulteration is damn high now days). However, we ignore one of the most crucial element which had a key role in keeping our ancestors healthy. Well, I am talking about one of the most underrated exercise which was actually was merely a movement at that time, well, you guessed it right, I am talking about walking!

The Sedentary Curse

There was a time when people used to walk a lot! Not as an exercise but just as a part of their regular routine. A 3-5 kilometers distance used to a be a walk away for many people . Fast forward to 21st century, to visit a place located just a 500m distance away; we prefer to hog over our motor vehicles. If we ponder about our current lifestyle, we have become a slave of technology. From morning till night,we are surrounded with some or the other form of tech gadgets. As a result, we have been cursed by sedentary lifestyle.

Just Sitting All Day

Also, not to ignore that; meanwhile in all this vicious routine, we tend to ingest too many crap foods. In fact, to get food we use some or other application that brings out your favourite junk at the table. Therefore, this is how a sedentary lifestyle screws our health. The funny part is, once you get some health issue; you visit a doctor and he prescribes you a minimum 20-30 minutes of exercise (precisely walk) regularly along with his medications. Interesting isn’t?

So This Is What Went Wrong

We humans are meant to be mobile and active. There was a time when our ancestors used to consume a lot of carbohydrates along with good amount saturated fats (Parantha/Rice, Desi Ghee etc) and they have lived healthier and longer than our current generation. At one point where the technology has proven a boon to mankind, it has also deteriorated a lot of things. The lifestyle diseases has grown exponentially in the last couple of decades. Nevertheless, India is ranking among the top nations for the diabetes and obesity cases.

sedentary-lifestyle-small

Alarming Call: Start Walking As Much As You Can

Let’s be practical, we cannot change our lifestyle much, neither we can boycott the use technology. But there is one thing which we can do, that is, to become physically more active. Therefore, start going for morning or evening walk. Use stairs instead of lift/escalators. Trust me, though its a small change, it works like wonders!

Benefit of Walking

Walking if done for more than 3 minutes is categorized under a low intensity cardio exercise. Alike other cardio activities, walking is a great way to strengthen your cardiorespiratory health (heart & lungs). However, the best part is, walking at a regular pace puts negligible stress over your joints. Moreover, it does not tax your heart much and therefore, proven really beneficial for the people who are already running with some heart issue. Another key benefit of walking is that it oxidizes the excess fat first rather than the muscles. This is key reason why most of the bodybuilders perform the static state walking as a part of their cardio exercise. In addition, it supports healthy functioning of our other vital organs (especially brain) by boosting the oxygenated blood flow in body. Well, last but not the least, walking helps in burning calories which further helps in fat loss. A 30 minutes of walk at a normal pace can burn around 60-90 calories (depends on person’s body weight).

Benefits of Walking

So Which Is The Best Time To walk?

Well, the answer to this is, whatever suits you! Whenever you get time, be it early morning or late evening. After your lunch or even after the dinner. Irrespective of time, just incorporate 30-45 minutes of walk in your lifestyle. Walking will boost your NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) which actually the current generation is depriving off.

No wonder, walking offers tremendous health benefits and that too without digging hole in your pocket! Hence, embrace this underrated exercise and let your body thank you for the same.

About Rachit Dua

Rachit Dua is an advanced certified personal trainer for general and special population (people with medical issues). He is also a certified sports nutritionist and an online fitness consultant with Team_Aminder. You can reach him out on: Facebook Instagram

Check Also

Top 7 ways Indian Bodybuilders can make money apart from comepting

Bodybuilding is a highly competitive sport that requires dedication, hard work, and discipline. Indian bodybuilders …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll To Top