We gym rats sometime dismiss walking as an old folks’ activity, but new evidence suggests it may have more important long-term benefits than just getting out into the fresh air.
Think about exercise and many of us will have mental images of sweat flying and legs whirling in a spinning class, of lifting your own weight in iron, or even sitting in a yoga class and adopting some position named The Recumbent Lemur, or whatever.
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But say walking, and many of us think of pensioners with silly shorts and wrinkled knees, stepping out with an exaggerated speed-walking gait, while the rest of us get a real workout.
Not so. There are ways that walking can have as many benefits as anything concocted by that brass-voiced, zero-percent-body-fat, nearly-Fascist aerobics instructor at the gym.
And you can keep doing it for the rest of your life.
So why walk?
For one thing, walking’s flexible. Need a challenge? Increase your incline. For many people, walking up Table Mountain is something they’ll remember for days afterwards, and rue the next morning when they try to get out of bed. For the seriously fit, doing the same mountain three times in one day with a backpack may just be another way to prepare for next year’s ascent of K2.
Walking’s sociable too. It’s one of the sports that allows conversation and for people who’re congenitally competitive, it may offer a release from that old have-to-win instinct.
In his book, Facing Up, Bear Grylls recounts how struggling up peaks in England’s Scottish Borders district helped the members of his team build up camaraderie as well as stamina in preparation for their ascent of Mount Everest. He later became the youngest climber to have topped Everest.
For many of us looking for that rush of endorphins that accompanies strenuous exercise, walking may not offer enough punishment. But it might be easier to fit into a lunch break than other forms of exercise and the benefits it holds in terms of mental alertness and increased productivity in the afternoon are just as good as bench-pressing.
Walking’s probably best combined with other, more aerobic sports.
Many people also regard exercise as an opportunity for solitude. There’s a sense of Zen-like calm that descends when swimming length after length of a deserted swimming pool or trotting a deserted road before dawn.
So walking with your family over a weekend will help teach your kids the benefits of an active lifestyle. You can then combine it with, say, a daily bicycle ride or a thrice-weekly humdinger of a weights session.
Want a real workout? Combine your circuit training with a game of chess and al fresco dining – and encourage your parents to do the same.
Walking excellent for the mind
New evidence also suggests that regular walking helps prevent mental decline and the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in older people. A recent Associated Press report says it’s long been known that mental workouts like memory games, crossword puzzles and games like Scrabble improve the alertness of the mind.
The report cites a study in Holland, where Europeans aged 70 to 90 who stuck to a Mediterranean-style diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, fish and olive oil showed a 23 percent lower risk over 10 years than those who’s eating habits were less healthy.
That percentage tripled in benefit – to 65 percent - when the Mediterranean diet was combined with three other healthy habits – no smoking, moderate alcohol use (No more than two glasses of wine a day) and at least half an hour of exercise per day.
In the AP report, researchers at the University of Virginia commenting on the Dutch study said they were surprised at how something as modest as walking could hold such benefits.
So how does exercise hold off Alzheimer’s? It’s thought that exercise may help reduce the brain’s levels of amyloid, a protein that clogs the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. It also does other good things like promote blood flow to the brain and increase general mental alertness. (William Smook)
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