The Importance of Walking Daily
Going on daily walks with a friend or your dog can benefit your health in more ways than one. Walking every day boosts your physical, mental, social and emotional health. Let’s take a look at the benefits of longer walks, including how daily exercise can ease joint pain and discomfort.
Top Four Health Benefits of Walking
There are numerous health benefits of walking alone or with friends and family. Walking in social groups boosts self-esteem and mood, reduces symptoms of depression and encourages social bonding. Whether you walk alone or with a group, you’ll experience better quality sleep and improve your overall well-being.
Here are the top four health benefits of taking longer walks every day:
1. Aids in Weight Loss
Walking for 30 minutes a day can burn up to 300 calories. Long walks are a great way to burn the sugars that your body stores as fuel. There are many mobile apps and online calculators to help you track how many calories you burn while walking.
2. Promotes Creativity
Many writers, artists and creative thinkers take longer walks to help boost creativity. According to a Stanford study, walking can increase a person’s creativity output by an average of 60 percent. Longer walks also promote brainstorming and critical thinking skills. Scientists believe these creative benefits occur because walking requires the simultaneous use of multiple parts of the brain.
3. Extends Your Life Span
People who take frequent walks live longer due to an increased ability to boost immune function, lower blood sugar and improve cardiovascular and pulmonary health. Longer walks also reduce the risk of chronic diseases like cancer, dementia, depression, anxiety, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
If you’re an adult, we recommend getting at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week. Children and teens should aim for at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
4. Eases Joint Pain
Many people suffer from knee and joint pain as they age. Walking can help alleviate the symptoms associated with joint pain. For instance, longer walks help mobilize joint fluid if you have osteoarthritis. Walking daily can also strengthen the muscles around the joints and help you maintain bone strength. We recommend walking daily as a preventative measure against arthritis and other forms of joint pain.
Experiencing Pain? Spine INA Can Help
If your joint pain is accompanied by swelling, redness or tenderness around the joint, contact our staff. We specialize in alleviating joint and back pain for residents throughout the East Windsor, NJ area. We’ll work with you to develop practical solutions to keep your pain at bay and revive your life.
This content was medically reviewed by Baher Yanni, M.D, on October 10th, 2019.
