Driving by the window of a gym, glancing at people getting fit by aggressively running on a treadmill isn’t that appealing. Sweat is drenching from their clothes and by the looks on their face running in place looks quite painful.
If this is the gym’s way of advertising to get more people to come inside, no wonder they stay in their cars and drive away. Especially when all you have to do is walk.
Walking is the easiest activity for burning calories and tuning up the cardiovascular system.
“The mission you’re trying to do to remain healthy all your life is to make your vessels remain open; the vessels that go to your brain, your heart, your legs and your kidneys,” said Dr. Ed Harlamert, a cardiologist at Indiana University Health. “If you sit and (do nothing) you’re actually asking your body to make the vessels constrict and clog up.”
The simplest way to do this is to get moving. Walking can help you achieve a number of important benefits including: lowering “bad” cholesterol, raising “good” cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, managing weight and improving your mood.
For Jim England, walking may have save his life. England began walking several years ago as part of his rehab after back surgery.
“Walking was great therapy for me and was actually the No. 1 recommended exercise by my neurosurgeon,” he said. “It was one of the easier ways to start moving around once I was back on my feet.”
England continued to walk up until he had a heart attack last fall.
“Sometimes you can’t outrun the gene code you’re handed and I have a history of heart disease in my family,” he said. “But again, walking has been the No. 1 form of rehab that I have employed since I’ve recovered.”
Why aren’t people walking?
The health benefits of walking are plentiful. It’s a simple exercise that is inexpensive and requires no equipment besides a good pair of walking shoes.
Some believe it is due to responsibilities such as work, children and extracurricular activities.
For instance, compared to 20 years ago, the average American worker is working 164 hours more a year, and most people find themselves sitting down in front of a computer for much of their workday.
“I think sitting all day then get packed up, driving through rush hour traffic, picking up kids and fixing dinner, I’m sure the first thing people want to do is prop up their feet and chill for a while,” said England. “I think people look at walking as a chore as opposed to considering their long term health.”
Statistics from the government’s 2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative survey of 24,000 adults ages 20 and older found that about 42 percent of obese adults reported having a heart condition, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes or ministrokes, in 2009 vs. 18 percent of adults at a healthy weight. Additionally, 59 percent of obese people were advised by their doctor to exercise; 21 percent of people at a healthy weight got that advice.
“People who are overweight have more health problems, tend to be less active, and they are advised by their health care provider to do better,” said Jeff Rhoades, a social science analyst with the government agency and one of the authors of the study.
Harlamert believes there may be stigma with the word “exercise.”
“I think because we push so hard for people to exercise and we use the word exercise, we’ve created a world of people who exercise and people who don’t,” he said. “When it comes time to choose watching the news or going for a walk, we say, ‘well, we’re not exercisers, let’s watch the news.’”
How to get off the couch
Not only does walking decrease the chance of developing health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes; it is also a great way to lose weight. Walking increases the number of calories your body uses, which helps control your weight. For example, walking one mile a day burns approximately 100 calories.
The American Heart Association offers a variety of ways people can get started walking. One is encouraging people to participate in National Walking Day on Wednesday, April 4. Employees are encouraged to wear sneakers to work and take at least 30 minutes out of their day to get up and walk. It’s a great way to raise awareness of the importance of physical activity said the AHA.
Another is the annual Heart Walk, which will take place Saturday, Sept. 15. England, who was chair of the walk in 2009 and 2010, said it is the perfect opportunity to get healthy with co-workers and family.
If you’re tired of walking alone or need sometime to keep you accountable, the AHA encourages people to log on to www.mywalkingclub.org and start a walking club. The website offers resources and locations of where other clubs meet.
“The three big vascular diseases in the U.S. are heart disease, strokes and peripheral arterial disease, which is the clogging up of the vessels in your legs,” Harlamert said. “If you can walk 30 minutes a day the dilation of the vessels happens in all three of those areas. In the long run, you lower your risk of a stroke, a heart attack and that your leg vessels will clog up because you’re using your legs so much.”
