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PUT A LITTLE STEP IN YOUR SPRING

There are more health benefits to going for a walk than welcoming good weather
Vancouver Sun1 Apr 2019JILL BARKER
JOHN MAHONEY
Walking is good for you, but walking quickly has an even greater effect on your health, research shows. Picking up speed to 130 steps per minute is considered a fast pace.
As the snow melts (in some parts of the country), temperatures rise and the sun stays out longer, Canadians are taking to the sidewalks to walk off winter’s cobwebs.

But as natural as it is to celebrate the change in weather by going for a stroll, there are more benefits to walking than welcoming the good weather.

And just so you don’t underestimate the power of going for a walk, here are five reasons to make walking more than a seasonal flash in the pan.

WALKING GETS THE CREATIVE JUICES GOING

A team of researchers from Santa Clara University wanted to find out if “a simple walk might lead to more free-flowing thoughts and more creativity,” so they gathered 176 college students and sent them out walking.

The results not only suggest that creativity flourishes while walking, walkers were also more creative when they returned to their desk as compared to those who never got their feet moving. And it didn’t matter if the walk was in the fresh air or on a treadmill — the walkers came up with more ideas while putting one foot in front of the other than did the subjects who stayed seated.

IN SOME CASES, WALKING CAN BE AS EFFECTIVE AS RUNNING

A comparison of 33,060 runners and 15,045 walkers proved that the intensity it takes to walk is enough to offer the same heart health benefits as running.

“If the amount of energy expended was the same between the two groups, then the health benefits were comparable,” said the researchers from Berkeley, Calif.

The numbers tell the story: Walking reduced the risk for hypertension by 7.2 per cent versus a 4.2 per cent drop in runners. Walkers dropped their risk of high cholesterol by seven per cent compared to a 4.3 per cent drop in runners.

Diabetes risk fell by 12.3 per cent in walkers and 12.1 per cent in runners. And heart disease was reduced by 9.3 per cent in walkers and 4.5 per cent in runners.

WALKING IS A MOOD CHANGER

Not only is walking considered an effective mood booster that helps reduce symptoms related to depression and anxiety, researchers also noted that it instils happiness. Women who walked 200 minutes per week reported having more energy, were more active socially, were less likely to let their emotions get out of control and were less bothered by depression three years after adding walking to their routine.

STEP IT UP AND LIVE LONGER

Walking is good for you, but walking quickly has an even greater effect on your health. Walkers moving at an average or brisk pace benefitted from a 20 and 24 per cent (respectively) reduced risk in all-cause mortality compared with those whose pace resembled a stroll.

How fast is fast? For adults ages 21-40, walking 100 steps a minute is considered moderate intensity while 130 steps a minutes is deemed fast walking. Most people’s natural pace is around 100 steps a minute, which means very little extra effort is needed to reap the health benefits associated with picking up the pace.

One more word about walking speed: among the 65-and-older crowd, it can be used to determine vitality and longevity. Turns out that as simple as walking seems, it demands a complex synergy of biological and physiological systems, so when walking speed starts to diminish it’s a sign that health may also be in decline.

CHANGE IT UP AND BURN MORE CALORIES

A Ohio State research team reported that changing speeds during your walking workout can burn up to 20 per cent more calories compared to staying stuck in one gear. The researchers also noted that people walk slower while covering short distances and speed up when covering more ground. “Walking at any speed costs some energy, but when you’re changing the speed, you’re pressing the gas pedal so to speak,” said the researchers.

If you can’t be bothered to count steps to calculate your speed, pick up the pace until you can hear yourself breathe, then slow down until your breathing is more relaxed. And don’t worry about checking your watch to time your fast and slow intervals; use natural landmarks like street lights, driveways or stop signs to mark the beginning and end of your intervals.

St. Patrick's Day at Boundary Bay!

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The latest photo taken at this years AGM.