WALKING
Walking is the simplest way to be fitted and healthy. Nowadays, maximum number of people are picking this form of exercise out of the rigorous ones to add to their daily fitness quotient. And it's a wonderful and highly effective way to keep oneself fit and toned. It can be done by anyone by choosing a comfort zone of their own level.
While walking what you need to do is to treat walking as a form of exercise, whether you are walking fast or slow, for a long or short distance.
Make your every walk count. How? It's very simple ☺ Walking like running could be hard on your feet. So, don't forget to wear comfortable breathable, cushioned, flexible pair of shoes. Shoes give support to your feet.
You should have specific targets to go for at least four to six walks per week. But the beginners would be advised to start walking twenty minutes per day. Slowly, aim to advance for an hour every day. Remember to warm up when you are beginning to walk. For the first five minutes, you should walk slowly at strolling pace to pick up the speed gradually.
Difference from running
The word walk is descended from the Old English wealcan "to roll". In humans and other bipeds, walking is generally distinguished from running in that only one foot at a time leaves contact with the ground and there is a period of double-support. In contrast, running begins when both feet are off the ground with each step. This distinction has the status of a formal requirement in competitive walking events. For quadrupedal species, there are numerous gaits which may be termed walking or running, and distinctions based upon the presence or absence of a suspended phase or the number of feet in contact any time do not yield mechanically correct classification. The most effective method to distinguish walking from running is to measure the height of a person's center of mass using motion capture or a force plate at midstance. During walking, the center of mass reaches a maximum height at midstance, while during running, it is then at a minimum. This distinction, however, only holds true for locomotion over level or approximately level ground. For walking up grades above 9%, this distinction no longer holds for some individuals. Definitions based on the percentage of the stride during which a foot is in contact with the ground (averaged across all feet) of greater than 50% contact corresponds well with identification of 'inverted pendulum' mechanics and are indicative of walking for animals with any number of limbs, although this definition is incomplete. Running humans and animals may have contact periods greater than 50% of a gait cycle when rounding corners, running uphill or carrying loads.
Speed is another factor that distinguishes walking from running. Although walking speeds can vary greatly depending on many factors such as height, weight, age, terrain, surface, load, culture, effort, and fitness, the average human walking speed is about 5.0 kilometres per hour (km/h), or about 3.1 miles per hour (mph). Specific studies have found pedestrian walking speeds ranging from 4.51 kilometres per hour (2.80 mph) to 4.75 kilometres per hour (2.95 mph) for older individuals and from 5.32 kilometres per hour (3.31 mph) to 5.43 kilometres per hour (3.37 mph) for younger individuals; a brisk walking speed can be around 6.5 kilometres per hour (4.0 mph). Champion race walkers can average more than 14 kilometres per hour (8.7 mph) over a distance of 20 kilometres (12 mi).
Health Benefits
Regular, brisk exercise of any kind can improve confidence, stamina, energy, weight control and life expectancy and reduce stress. It can also reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure, bowel cancer and osteoporosis. Scientific studies have also shown that walking, besides its physical benefits, is also beneficial for the mind, improving memory skills, learning ability, concentration and abstract reasoning as well as ameliorating spirits. Sustained walking sessions for a minimum period of thirty to sixty minutes a day, five days a week, with the correct walking posture, reduce health risks and have various overall health benefits, such as reducing the chances of cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, anxiety disorder and depression. Life expectancy is also increased even for individuals suffering from obesity or high blood pressure. Walking also improves bone health, especially strengthening the hip bone, and lowering the harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and raising the useful high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Studies have found that walking may also help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's fact sheet on the "Relationship of Walking to Mortality among U.S. Adults with Diabetes" states that those with diabetes who walked for 2 or more hours a week lowered their mortality rate from all causes by 39 per cent. "Walking lengthened the life of people with diabetes regardless of age, sex, race, body mass index, length of time since diagnosis, and presence of complications or functional limitations." It has been suggested that there is a relationship between the speed of walking and health, and that the best results are obtained with a speed of more than 2.5 mph (4 km/h).
Governments now recognize the benefits of walking for mental and physical health and are actively encouraging it. This growing emphasis on walking has arisen because people walk less nowadays than previously. In the UK, a Department of Transport report found that between 1995/97 and 2005 the average number of walk trips per person fell by 16%, from 292 to 245 per year. Many professionals in local authorities and the NHS are employed to halt this decline by ensuring that the built environment allows people to walk and that there are walking opportunities available to them. Professionals working to encourage walking come mainly from six sectors: health, transport, environment, schools, sport and recreation, and urban design.
One program to encourage walking is "The Walking the Way to Health Initiative", organized by the British walkers association The Ramblers, which is the largest volunteer led walking scheme in the United Kingdom. Volunteers are trained to lead free Health Walks from community venues such as libraries and doctors' surgeries. The scheme has trained over 35,000 volunteers and have over 500 schemes operating across the UK, with thousands of people walking every week. A new organization called "Walk England" launched a web site in June 2008 to provide these professionals with evidence, advice and examples of success stories of how to encourage communities to walk more. The site has a social networking aspect to allow professionals and the public to ask questions, post news and events and communicate with others in their area about walking, as well as a "walk now" option to find out what walks are available in each region. Similar organizations exist in other countries and recently a "Walking Summit" was held in the United States. This "assembled thought-leaders and influencers from business, urban planning and real estate, [along with] physicians and public health officials," and others, to discuss how to make American cities and communities places where "people can and want to walk".
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's fact sheet on the "Relationship of Walking to Mortality among U.S. Adults with Diabetes" states that those with diabetes who walked for 2 or more hours a week lowered their mortality rate from all causes by 39 per cent. "Walking lengthened the life of people with diabetes regardless of age, sex, race, body mass index, length of time since diagnosis, and presence of complications or functional limitations." It has been suggested that there is a relationship between the speed of walking and health, and that the best results are obtained with a speed of more than 2.5 mph (4 km/h).
Governments now recognize the benefits of walking for mental and physical health and are actively encouraging it. This growing emphasis on walking has arisen because people walk less nowadays than previously. In the UK, a Department of Transport report found that between 1995/97 and 2005 the average number of walk trips per person fell by 16%, from 292 to 245 per year. Many professionals in local authorities and the NHS are employed to halt this decline by ensuring that the built environment allows people to walk and that there are walking opportunities available to them. Professionals working to encourage walking come mainly from six sectors: health, transport, environment, schools, sport and recreation, and urban design.
One program to encourage walking is "The Walking the Way to Health Initiative", organized by the British walkers association The Ramblers, which is the largest volunteer led walking scheme in the United Kingdom. Volunteers are trained to lead free Health Walks from community venues such as libraries and doctors' surgeries. The scheme has trained over 35,000 volunteers and have over 500 schemes operating across the UK, with thousands of people walking every week. A new organization called "Walk England" launched a web site in June 2008 to provide these professionals with evidence, advice and examples of success stories of how to encourage communities to walk more. The site has a social networking aspect to allow professionals and the public to ask questions, post news and events and communicate with others in their area about walking, as well as a "walk now" option to find out what walks are available in each region. Similar organizations exist in other countries and recently a "Walking Summit" was held in the United States. This "assembled thought-leaders and influencers from business, urban planning and real estate, [along with] physicians and public health officials," and others, to discuss how to make American cities and communities places where "people can and want to walk".
Classification of Walking
Walk straight with your back straight and head held high. Keep swinging your arms while walking. There are some popular type of walking you should try --
- BRISK WALKING -This is the simplest way of walking. Walk it a little bit faster. It should be about 5 km per hour. This kind of walking is ideal for beginners. Set your own pace when you go for a brisk walk.
- POWER WALKING- This is for the highly fitness conscious people. The brisk walkers catch up the speed to walk seven to nine kilometres per hour. More and more people are opting for power walking as an option to jogging.
- RACE WALKING - Race walking is an extremely tough sport and takes extreme endurance. There is a rule that the athlete's feet must be touching the ground at all times. Popular race lengths are 20 KMS and 50 KMS. Some races are as long as 50 miles.
- MARATHON WALKING - This type of walking is gaining popularity day by day. It's a pretty bit rigorous exactly like running a marathon. You need to take a few months to train yourself to be a Marathon walker.
- CHI WALKING - CHI is a Chinese term for life force. It’s a kind of walking exercise in China. It has a five stage to approach to walking including using correct posture, engaging the right muscles, creating the perfect balance, making a choice and moving forward correctly.
- POLE WALKING- This initially developed as an off season training for Skiers. Pole walking helps you include your upper body in your walking lifestyle. This form of walking involves a pair of specially designed poles. Nordic walking exercises different parts of the body like shoulder, abdomen, spine, chest, triceps, lats etc.
- STROLLER WALKING - This type of walking is meant to shed delivery flab .It is simply pushing the stroller with the baby in it.
- PEDOMETER WALKING -Pedometers are also called Activity Trackers. They help you in keeping a track on the level of walking exercise you are doing.
- CARDIO WALKING- Walking can give a complete workout to the lungs, the heart and of course the major arteries and veins. Walk at a pace to challenge your fitness by a little bit. So, casual walks are out, brisk and power walking are in.
It is estimated that regular walking increases your life span. So, don't make any delay.
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