The walk is true sport (but under these conditions) – breaking latest news

Since we are a year or so later, and then for a lifetime, perhaps the movement that comes to us most spontaneously. But it is also the closest thing to a panacea we know, as Thomas Frieden, then director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, defined it over twenty years ago. Walking was considered an essential health tool two decades ago and today, even if many tend to underestimate its effectiveness as a sport, we have overwhelming evidence about it: brings benefits to body and mind, can help against countless diseases, has practically no side effects and is also free, in addition, it offers unexpected advantages that are emerging thanks to scientific research. For example, who would have thought that the daily walk could increase creativity? but yet walking divergent thinking increases up to 80 percent, according to research from Stanford University, because thoughts wander aimlessly and new associations of ideas are more likely.

Mental well-being

The brain draws many benefits from walking, confirms Gianfranco Beltrami, professor in Exercise Sciences at the University of Parma and member of the board of directors of the Italian Sports Medicine Federation (FMSI). For example, it increases the production of endorphins, which improve mental well-being, promote sociality, decrease anxiety and stress. They are enough walk ten minutes to have the same effect on your mood as a 45-minute workout in the gym, and if the walk takes place in the green, well-being is guaranteed: according to a research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in fact, brain activity is reduced in areas associated with negative emotions and rumination decreases, that attitude whereby thoughts circulate on negative elements of oneself in one’s life. Walking is a kind of positive bath: afterwards you feel more serene, optimistic and even more self-confident. Psychological effects that have a well-documented physical correlation: for example, it has been seen that literally at every step, thanks to the impact with the ground, there are pressure waves that increase the blood flow to the brain, a little less than running but more compared to activities for which one does not put your feet on the ground like swimming or cycling. The result is not only an improvement in mood but also a protective effect on memory and cognitive impairment linked to age: it is no coincidence that the walking dose was found to be directly related to the volume of brain gray matter, especially in areas such as the hippocampus, connected to memory and learning.

Physical benefits

And if on the brain the benefits of the daily steps are now evident, on the body they are perhaps even more so as Beltrami explains: Walking is a low-impact aerobic exercise, with advantages on all organs and systems: at the cardiovascular level, for example, blood pressure and blood fats are reduced, from cholesterol to triglycerides; heart rate decreases and overall there is a noticeable protective effect on the heart and vessels. For example, two and a half hours of walking a week, just over twenty minutes a day, are enough to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke by up to 30 percent. THE muscle areas most toned by walking are legs, buttocks and abdominals,but also the efficiency of the thoracic muscles is positively affected and thus the respiratory exchanges improve, to the advantage of those with disorders such as asthma, adds Beltrami. The daily walk then helps you sleep better and prevents osteoporosis, because with the impact on the ground bone metabolism is stimulated, and for breast and intestinal carcinomas the evident protective effect. The muscular work of the legs also counteracts venous insufficiency and prevents varicose veins, making it an excellent form of exercise for those most at risk, such as overweight and menopausal women; movement, then, favors intestinal transit and therefore an ally for those suffering from constipation.

Weight control immune defenses

Walking outdoors in winter also helps against seasonal diseases: exercise strengthens the immune system by increasing the production of antibodies and this translates into a lower risk of getting sick. Finally, it can be a method by which burn more calories and start losing some weight, especially in those who are obese and cannot engage in higher-intensity physical activity. Walking helps to maintain a healthy weight and to lose weight, but it takes a considerable dose of steps to obtain evident results: without combining an adequate diet that controls caloric intake, losing the extra pounds just by walking can be difficult, especially if it is a matter of of a consistent weight loss. It does not mean that the daily walk is useless, on the contrary: a Korean study has shown that walking greatly affects body composition and is very effective in reducing the waistline, or the accumulation of abdominal fat which more than any other fat pad in the body is associated with risks for cardiovascular and metabolic health. As a result, the risk of type 2 diabetes is also lowered.

The right pace

It is therefore not surprising that, with all these advantages, walking extends life: a study by the US Mayo Clinic on about 475,000 men and women has shown that assiduous walkers have a higher life expectancy than those who don’t have this good habit. Whoever takes at least 5,000 steps a day lives more, summarizes Beltrami. The “pace” also counts: brisk walking is the most effective for longevity, moving at just under 5 kilometers per hour extends life much more than a tortoise’s pace covering just 3 kilometers per hour.

The doses

Walking a powerful medicine, but what is the right dose? The fateful ten thousand steps a day are truly the magic number to be reached at any cost? They are actually an arbitrary value, because the number must be adapted to age, health conditions, weight, training level: for a very obese person or a patient with cardiovascular problems, even three thousand steps a day are already an appreciable result, replies Gianfranco Beltrami, lecturer in sports science at the University of Parma. In general, then, it may be appropriate break up the walk into two or three times throughout the day; moreover, those who are completely sedentary do not start immediately with ten thousand steps but proceed gradually, paying attention to the appearance of pain and the need for recovery between one walk and another. The goal of ten thousand steps is not so rigid even for those who do not have health problems: a recent US study has shown that this is a utopian value for the majority of people, who on average are between 5 and 7 thousand steps per day. However, by evaluating the habits of about 3400 volunteers whose habits were measured performance walking and especially cardiometabolic risk parameters (such as waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose and insulin levels, fasting blood sugar), the researchers observed how three thousand steps at a brisk pace are within everyone’s reach but at the same time guarantee the same protective effects on cardiovascular risk factors, as well as helping in any weight loss.

Intensity of the exercise

This is also because in addition to taking a certain number of steps, you need to maintain an adequate pace: the ideal is to walk at a brisk pace which corresponds to about one hundred steps per minute, while, to be clear, a good run corresponds to about one hundred and eighty steps in a minute. Therefore, if walking is an ideal aerobic exercise because the intensity can be easily adapted to your needs, this should not become an excuse for a snail-like gait: for maximum effectiveness in terms of cardiovascular protection and weight loss you need to move every day, perhaps shorter but at an adequate intensity. Which is also helpful, because you have to be realistic: walking slowly to reach ten thousand steps takes even more than an hour and very few have so much time to devote to daily training.

Clothing and hydration

There are also other precautions to follow when choosing to walk for sport, as Beltrami points out: You have to use suitable footwear, not the first pair of shoes that comes along; important to hydrate well, drinking before and after the walk and especially if you sweat a lot. The place to walk also matters: you must not walk in the midst of smog, but look for green paths to breathe fresh air.