Janet Rapp He walked briskly along a paved path through the city zoo, waving to friends and stopping briefly to greet the emus, which he knows by name.
The 71-year-old retiree begins each morning this way with a club of hike.
“I’m obsessed” he said. Not only does it relieve the pain in his joints, “it also gives me energy…And it calms me down.”
The experts doctors agree that walk It’s an easy way to improve health physically and mentally, increase physical fitness and prevent diseases. While it’s not the only type of exercise people should do, it’s a great first step toward healthy living.
“You don’t need equipment and you don’t need a gym membership,” said Dr. Sarah Eby, a sports medicine specialist at Mass General Brigham. “And benefits They are vast.”
In what aid walk?
Walking can help meet the director’s recommendation health public policy in the United States that adults get at least two and a half hours of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. This aid reduce the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, dementia, depression and many types of cancer.
Walking also improves levels of sugar in the blood, it is good for the health bone and can help you lose weight and sleep better, added Julie Schmied, a nurse practitioner at Norton Healthcare, who runs the club of hike free Get Healthy.
Other advantage? It is a bass exercise impact which puts less pressure on your joints while strengthening your heart and lungs.
James Blankenship, 68, said joining the club of hike in it Zoological of Louisville last year helped him recover after a stroke cardiac and a triple bypass in 2022.
“My cardiologist He says I’m doing great job“, said.
However, despite all his benefits, walk “is not enough for the health and the welfare general” because it does not provide training endurance that builds muscle strength and endurancesaid Anita Gust, who teaches exercise science at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
That is especially important for the health bone of the women as they get older.
The experts recommend adding such activities at least twice a week, using weights, equipment gym or your own body as enduranceand do exercises that improve flexibility such as yoga or stretching.
Are they really needed 10,000 steps per day?
Almost everyone has heard of this aim of hikewhich dates back to a 1960s marketing campaign in Japan. But the experts They emphasize that it is only a guide.
The average American walks 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day and it is okay to gradually work up to 10,000Schmied said.
Establish a aim of time can also be useful. Schmied suggests dividing the 150 minutes recommended per week for 30 minutes a day, or 10 minutes three times a day, for five days. during evil timepeople can walk in shopping malls or on treadmills.
As they become experienced walkers, they can speed up the rhythm or challenge themselves with hills while maintaining a moderate activity level.
“If you can talk, but don’t sing“said Eby, “that’s what we consider high-intensity exercise. moderate“.
How to stay motivated?
walk with friendsincluding dogsit’s one way.
The clubs of hike have emerged throughout the country. In 2022, New York personal trainer Brianna Joye Kohn, 31, started City Girls Who Walk with a TikTok post inviting others to walk with her.
“250 girls came,” she said.
Since then, the group walks every Sunday for a few 40 minutesand some meet afterward for brunch or coffee.
He Zoological of Louisville launched his club of hike in 1987, partnered with Norton in 2004 to expand it, and now has more than 15,000 registered members. Every day from March 1 to October 31, people walk a 1.4-mile loop before the zoo opens to the public.
Tony Weiter He meets two of his brothers every Friday. On a recent morning, they caught up on their lives as they quickly passed zebras in a fenced field and a seal sunbathing.
“I enjoy the serenity. It’s cold, but the sun is shining. You can see the animals“, said Weiter63 years old. “It’s a great way to start the morning.”
