A regular physical activity can significantly improve health. It reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and even obesity, reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, but also improves thinking, learning and judgment skills. According to the World Health Organization, people who do not practice sufficient physical activity have a 20 to 30% increased risk of death compared to those who are sufficiently active. This is why the Ministry of Health and Prevention recommends that adults practice at least 30 minutes of physical activity per dayat least 5 days a week, in order to stay healthy.
Among the physical activities that are easy to integrate into your daily life, walking is a perfect and easy way to exercise without too much constraints. Indeed, walking at a good pace and outdoors is likely to provide many health benefits. But how to optimize your outings to walk more effectively for your health? THE media British Stylist gathered advice from Nanette Mutrie, specialist in physical activity for health at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland).
Physical activity: 8 tips to make the most of your health from your daily walk
While daily walking can help you stay in shape, Nanette Mutrie explained how to get the maximum health benefits from it. Here are his 8 recommendations to optimize your walking sessions.
Follow his walk
First advice from Nanette Mutrie to optimize your walk: follow your own pace, using a tracker for example. “I think pedometers, step counting apps on your phone, or a fitness tracker can help you reach your original goals and understand how walking more can impact your health, heart rate, and heart rate. number of steps“, she explains. However, she recommends only using this tool to find your cruising speed and to not being focused on numbers. She recalls that “the goal of walking is to make it an enjoyable activity that you can incorporate into your lifestyle until you no longer have too many questions about how to do it“.
Manage the intensity
The expert cites findings from previous studies which showed that walking at a faster pace could lead to increased health benefits, such as a reduction in the risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, but also type 2 diabetes. However, she reminds us that the speed of walking is relative and everyone must find the pace that suits them. “Higher intensity exercises have additional beneficial effects, but only up to a point : a fast pace is only better than a slow pace if you enjoy doing it, because if you don’t like walking fast and therefore stop doing it, you won’t get any benefit from it“, she explains.
Use resistance
To multiply the benefits of walking, the expert recommendsadd resistance to your outings, such as walking poles or hand weights. “Using trekking poles is proven to increase walking effort because it engages the muscles of the upper body as well as the lower body“, she explains. However, she reminds that these tools should only be used in the upper body: “you have to lift the weight above your center of gravity to benefit from it”.
Walk with a friend
To maximize the benefits of walking, the physical activity specialist recommends join a walking group, or just hang out with a friend or family member. She describes that exercising in a group makes it easier to achieve your goals while facing different challenges, which can help build self-confidence and improve your ability to walk.
Walk uphill
The expert also advises trying to walk uphill, rather than on flat roads. Indeed, she cites the findings of a study from King George’s Medical University published in 2017, which showed that walking uphill results in greater effort than walking downhill, because it involves concentric muscle contractions (this is i.e. a shortening of the muscles), which require more metabolic energy from the muscles.
Listen to music
Nanette Mutrie then points out the benefit of music for walking more effectively. Indeed, she explains thatlisten to music at high tempo during physical exercise would result in a higher heart rate and lower perceived effort, which helps to surpass oneself. Beyond music, she advises adding any element to your walking routine that could help motivate you: “we need to find ways to make walking enjoyable enough to continue doing it throughout our lives, so if music, an audiobook, a podcast, or being alone with your own thoughts is the way to do that, then it’s perfect“.
Aim for 7,500 steps
If the expert recalls that the objective of 10,000 daily steps is more of an advertising tool than a scientific recommendation, she advises aiming for 7,500 daily steps to stay in shape. Indeed, a Spanish study published in October 2023 in the journal Journal of the American College of Cardiology observed that the optimal number of daily steps to significantly reduce the risk of premature death was approximately 8,000 steps. But scientists have also discovered that there are health benefits from 2,600 steps per day.
Enjoy walking outdoors
Finally, the physical activity specialist recalls the benefits of walking outdoors, which beyond the physical benefits can also improve mental health. However, if you can’t go out but still want to reap the benefits of walking, she recommends using a treadmill, or walking at home. She concludes that “any movement, even moving around the house, is preferable to no movement”.
Sources:
- Walking for health: 8 simple ways to boost the health benefits of your daily walk – Stylist – January 10, 2024
- Physical activity and health – Ministry of Health and Prevention
- Physical activity – World Health Organization
- Walking speed and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis – British Journal of Sports Medicine – November 28, 2023
- Relationship of Daily Step Counts to All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events – Journal of the American College of Cardiology – October 10, 2023