{"id":264,"date":"2001-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2001-09-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/fitness-walk-a-little-live-a-lot-longer\/"},"modified":"2001-09-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2001-09-01T00:00:00","slug":"fitness-walk-a-little-live-a-lot-longer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/fitness-walk-a-little-live-a-lot-longer\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk a Little, Live a Lot (Longer)"},"content":{"rendered":"
What if there was something simple you could do every day that would burn calories, be good for your heart, and help you stay young. Youd do it, right? Well, thats why researchers and doctors are so gung ho about walking, especially in light of new research that credits it for everything from cutting breast cancer risks<\/a> to helping you sleep. Walking is not just a weenie activity for the nonathletic, says Michelle Look, MD, national medical consultant to the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk and a physician who specializes in sports medicine in San Diego: “Its good for just about anybody, and the health benefits are particularly significant for women.” Here, eight reasons to start walking—or just walk a little more often.<\/p>\n 1. Its great for the heart<\/strong> 2. It cuts breast-cancer risks<\/strong> 3. It helps you sleep<\/strong> Next Page: It cuts down on aches and pains<\/a> [ pagebreak ]4. It cuts down on aches and pains <\/strong>
In a recent study conducted at Duke University Medical Center, researchers found that walking briskly for 30 minutes every day lowers your odds of developing metabolic syndrome<\/a>, a cluster of risk factors linked to higher risks of heart disease, diabetes<\/a>, and stroke<\/a>. Roughly 24 million women in the United States have metabolic syndrome. Dont have time for a daily half-hour walk? Try multitasking: A British study found that active commuting (incorporating walking and cycling into your sedentary commute) is associated with an 11 percent reduction in heart-disease risk, especially among women. (For sneaky ways to work more walking into your life, see No Time to Walk? Try This.)<\/p>\n
Walking, even for a few hours a week, significantly reduces breast-cancer risk<\/a>, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association<\/em>. The thinking is that walking helps reduce levels of body fat, a source of estrogen. The research looked at 74,000 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79. Those at a normal weight lowered their risk by 30 percent; those who were overweight, by 10 to 20 percent. Younger women may also gain similar benefits.<\/p>\n
A brisk walk in the afternoon will help you get a better nights sleep<\/a>, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Experts say that walking may boost levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, which relaxes you. Or, the rise in body temperature brought on by walking may signal the brain to lower your temperature later, which promotes sleep. (Avoid a walk two hours before bed—thats too late to cool down.)<\/p>\n
Walk the “chi” (pronounced chee) way and you could have fewer achy days. Nine years ago, Danny Dreyer, an ultra-marathoner then living near San Francisco, invented ChiWalking<\/a>, which incorporates ideas from tai chi, yoga, and Pilates. It looks like regular walking but, because you consciously relax, improve the alignment of your body, and involve arm movements, puts less stress on the legs while you walk. That means fewer aches. “ChiWalking can cut down any risk of injury,” says Alice Peters Diffely, a ChiWalking instructor in Portland, Oregon. “Your whole body will feel better.”<\/p>\n