Just walk, now more than ever!
Catch up on the rest of the Get Outa the House Hikes in the general vicinity of Lima and Honeoye Falls, NY on YouTube at this link.
I began this page during Covid, when many were hesitant to go outside. Walking has been my passion and pleasure for many years and the more I look the better the evidence to support regular brisk walks.
Walk, just walk faster!
Becoming fitter has many advantages, from improving self-worth/appearance, cardiovascular status, reducing risks of disease, and much more. While it seems daunting to begin a fitness program there are simple (and free) ways to accomplish this task. Walking is an option for nearly everyone and can be accomplished with little cost. While many would rather not venture out in colder weather, there are indoor options as well, such as local malls, schools, etc.
Walking in the wild has been shown to have mental health benefits beyond what you might expect. A quick search on Google will lead you to mean recent studies that supports the link between walking, and exercise in general, and mental health.
One of my favorite studies needs to be better known. It was a 14-year long study done in Scotland with over 50,000 participants. It was proven that simply increasing walking pace could reduce risk for all-cause and CVD mortality. Walking faster reduced the chance of diving from cardiovascular disease. These gains did not require one to walk farther or more frequently, they simply required one to walk faster. What was fascinating about the study is that these results are based on each person’s self-described walking pace, meaning they simply felt that they were walking after without needing to meet someone else’s expectations of speed.
The study can be read in its entirety here, should you want more information.
Over time I will be adding more information to this page, but right now ;’ve got to get out and take a fast walk!
Cheers,
Walt Fritz, PT
Pain Relief Center in Lima, NY
and
Foundations in Manual Therapy Seminars
Another popular culture online article came to my attention that merits a look: Neuroscientist: To Keep Your Brain Young, Go Hiking. The article contains lots of good links to some research and relevant interviews.
Have you gotten out there yet?
From the above article is a linked article titled, A Study of 140,000 People Says Walking This Much Per Week Adds Years to Your Life.
“The study from the American Cancer Society followed 140,000 older adults and reported that those who walked six hours per week had a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and cancer than those who were not active, but that walking even as little as two hours per week could begin to reduce the risk of disease and help you live a longer, healthier life”
Association of Daily Step Count and Intensity With Incident Dementia in 78 430 Adults Living in the UK
This well run study followed 78,000 people and noted that “a higher number of steps was associated with lower risk of all-cause dementia. The findings suggest that a dose of just under 10 000 steps per day may be optimally associated with a lower risk of dementia. Steps performed at higher intensity resulted in stronger associations.” Can you walk that many steps every day? 10,000 steps is a frequently cited goal, though there was little evidence to confirm those numbers until recently. You can read the full study here.
Prospective Associations of Daily Step Counts and Intensity
With Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Incidence
and Mortality and All-Cause Mortality
Anther study again finds some magic to that 10,000 steps per day mark. “The findings of this population-based prospective cohort study of 78 500 individuals suggest that up to 10 000 steps per day may be associated with a lower risk of mortality and cancer and CVD incidence. Steps performed at a higher cadence may be associated with additional risk reduction, particularly for incident disease.” This paper may be found here.
Exercise of any type has benefits. If you love going to the gym, then go! Running has its merits, but so does walking. As Nike states, Just Do It!