Walking is the best Tonic for Fitness and Good Health

If you want to call yourself a fit person there is one very important factor to be included in you daily routine called Walking. Today we live in a world where we can buy anything and everything but there is one thing you can’t buy off a shelf and that is fitness. It is some thing everybody has to work hard to achieve. It comes from a systematic and disciplined life style and the biggest and most important component of fitness is regular cardiovascular exercise.

The simplest and easiest and most doable form of cardiovascular exercise is walking. I am happy to note that in Bangalore and all over the world people are now very conscious about their fitness and many have taken to walking in parks or joining a gym where they walk on a treadmill. The secret is to be regular throughout the year and throughout your life. When you travel or take a holiday you may not be able to carry your park or treadmill along with you but surely you can carry your socks and shoes and make sure you squeeze a 25min-30minutes walk into your busy schedule.

If at all you miss your walk it should not be missed for more than one or two days. What if there was a miracle tonic that you could take each day which would give you a 20% less chance of getting breast cancer, a 30 % less chance of getting heart disease and a 80% less chance of diabetes and would help you live longer and healthier into old age. How much would you insist your children, parents and loved ones take it too? The miracle cure is to strap on your walking shoes for an hour a day, or at least 25-30 minutes and you will reap all these health benefits according to recent health studies published in major medical journals.

How fast? Don’t race with anyone, set your own pace and let it be as fast as you can go. Try not to talk and walk (Don’t use your mobile when walking and don’t get into any lengthy discussions with walking companions. When you talk your heart rate comes down and you will walk slower and burn fewer calories)

How long? An hour a day is ideal and is seen to decrease the risk of breast cancer and Type 11 diabetes. As little as half an hour a day, is associated with decreased risk of heart disease. Those who cannot walk for one hour at a stretch can split it as 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening. They may also do 40 minutes plus 20 minutes. Less then 20 minutes at one time is not useful as the heart rate comes up only after you have walked for 20 minutes at one time. It then stays elevated for the next 2-3 hours which will help you to burn stored fat.

How many years? The studies have not keyed in on when in your life it is best to exercise – is it too late if you wait until you are 55? Or can you begin reducing your risks at any age. Studies have shown decreased risk of death in older men and women who walk regularly, so my reply would be to start now and never stop! Children from age 5 upwards must be encouraged to develop the walking habit and trained to be regular about this wonderful exercise

Special benefits-

1. Lowers risk of Cancer
2. Prevents development of Diabetes
3. Lowers Blood pressure
4. Lowers Cholesterol levels and Triglyceride levels
5. Helps to increase good or happy cholesterol levels – HDL
6. Walking will also provide weight bearing exercise to maintain your bone density and prevent osteoporosis.
7. It can prevent obesity which can lead to many other diseases.
8. Recent research shows that walking delays brain shrinking in old age which leads to memory loss and many other problems.
9. Walking helps to produce positive hormones called serotonin and endorphins which can keep you happy and elevate your mood.
10. Finally it can help you keep your thyroid system and reproduction systems function regularly and healthily and prevent the problem of polycystic ovaries and infertility which is highly prevalent to day due to sedentary life style and desk jobs.

As you enter 2011 promise yourself a daily dose of this Miracle Tonic - Walk.