The Benefits of a 30 Minute Morning Walk
There are several ways to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. However, there are great benefits in continuous exercise, not only exercise for short periods of time. This is why we recommend doing a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week. To help prevent diseases like high blood pressure, embolisms, depression, certain types of cancer, heart attacks, obesity, we suggest taking a thirty-minute morning walk as often as possible.
How to plan a morning walk
Before starting the morning walk, the person should warm up, and then stretch well after the exercise. When stretching:
- Don’t stretch more than what your body is capable of
- Breathe constantly during the stretch
- Move slowly
So, in order to do a proper 30 minute walk, you should keep in mind the following aspects to prevent injuries and for the exercise to bring the most benefit:
- When walking, your toes should point forward
- With each step, your heel should touch the ground first. In that way, your body weight will have to continue in a forwards direction, following the movement
- Your arms should move naturally and continuously
- Your shoulders should be pulled slightly backwards and your chin should be held high. Try not to look at the ground
Benefits
Taking a 30 minute morning walk consistently is equally as beneficial as running. This kind of exercise helps reduce the risk of developing diabetes, depression, certain types of cancer, and helps fight cholesterol and high blood pressure.
The spokesman for the American Heart Association, Dr. Gregg Fonarow, states that doing physical exercise reduces the risk of a premature death, helps fight cardiovascular problems, and maintains good health. Research showed that walking and running help reduce cardiac diseases.
In the results, they found as many benefits from walking as from running:
- In regards to cholesterol, walking reduced it by 7% and running by 4.3%
- As far as the risk of getting cardiac diseases is concerned, walking reduced it by 9.3% and running by 4.5%
- In regards to hypertension, walking reduced the possibility of contracting it by 7.2% and running by 4.2%
- In regards to diabetes, walking reduced the risk of contracting it by 12.3 and running by 12.1%
“These findings suggest a similar benefit with energy consumed in exercise, independent of intensity. However, for people that are able to participate in a more intense exercise, this strategy could be more efficient in regards to time,”
Dr. Gregg Fonarow
See more: Five Key Ways to Control Cholesterol
Precautions
When you do any type of physical activity, you should keep in mind some precautions, so that your health is not at risk, nor your safety.
We suggest that you avoid wearing jewelry, not only so that you are more comfortable, but also so that you are not a target for thieves. Also, if you walk at any time of the day with low light, like sunrise, sunset, or at night, we recommend wearing colorful clothing or a reflective jacket.
Walking in a group tends to be safer. You should take your mobile with you, in case of emergencies. Never go out without some form of identification. It’s a good idea to let your family know your approximate route and how long you intend to be out for.
Don’t get distracted; always be aware of what is happening around you. Likewise, if you use headphones, the volume should be low so that you can hear traffic and other necessary noise.
