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Even Hippocrates himself said that a walk replaces the most effective medicine for a person. Modern doctors say that if you add a healthy good sleep and a balanced diet to regular walking, you can minimize the need to periodically seek help from doctors. Just half an hour of walking every day will help to significantly improve your physical performance, lose weight, reduce the intensity of the manifestations of various somatic diseases and improve your mood. And this is not a complete list of what can be achieved through regular walks.
Here are 10 positive results that can be achieved by devoting just 30 minutes a day to walking in the fresh air.
10 Lung volume increase
Walking helps increase the flow of oxygen to the lungs, thereby increasing their volume, thereby improving the endurance of the body as a whole. In addition, this exercise helps to reduce the concentration of toxins in the blood. With the help of such a breathing exercise, you can fight the negative manifestations of some pulmonary diseases.
9. Improvement of the digestive tract
The scientific rationale for the use of accelerated walking therapy to improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract is the stimulation of blood supply to the organs of the digestive system during low-intensity work. During easy walking, the secretion of gastric juice increases. In contrast, strenuous physical activity, such as fast running, has the opposite effect. This is due to the process of redistribution of blood – during a fast run, the vessels of the gastrointestinal tract narrow, and, accordingly, blood flow to its departments decreases.
8. Vision improvement
At first glance, it may seem that the visual organ does not have a close anatomical connection with the legs, but scientists have proven that walking has a positive effect on the condition of the eyes. Firstly, regular walking helps to reduce the manifestations of glaucoma (persistent increase in intraocular pressure). Secondly, deep and rhythmic breathing helps to relax, thereby relieving visual fatigue.
7. Calming and uplifting mood
Daily walking helps fight stress by stimulating blood circulation, so that the tissues of the body will be provided with oxygen and essential nutrients. In addition, walking has a stimulating effect on nerve receptors, due to which the secretion of stress hormones is significantly reduced. Measured deep breathing while walking also helps to calm down and focus your inner energy on positive emotions.
There are scientific studies where the beneficial effects of regular walks in the treatment of depressive conditions have been empirically proven. Walking is also recommended by psychiatrists as a method of dealing with blues. Therefore, if you feel some kind of depression of the spirit and inexplicable sadness, then just take a walk in the fresh air, and very soon you will feel much better.
6. Positive changes in the brain
Breathing exercises that a person performs while walking prevent the development of dementia (senile dementia), reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease and help stabilize the emotional background, since a significant amount of endorphins, the hormones of joy, enter the blood during a walk. Also, walking in the fresh air favors the saturation of brain cells with oxygen and stimulates mental activity, which helps to increase the intellectual level.
5. Strengthening bones and joints
As we age, bones lose their elasticity, which makes them more fragile. But if every day you devote no more than half an hour to walking, then in this way you can strengthen bone tissue. Hiking prevents the loss of bone elasticity, thereby reducing the likelihood of osteoporosis and bone loss. Systematic walking is also a prevention of inflammatory diseases of the joints and the occurrence of dystrophic changes in them.
4. Improving the condition of the pancreas
Recent studies have shown that leisurely walking is much more beneficial for patients with diabetes than running. In the course of the experiments, it was found that if a patient suffering from diabetes mellitus devotes half an hour to walking every day for 6 months, then his glucose tolerance increases by 6 times.
3. Prevention of heart disease
Even with complex diagnoses, such as angina pectoris or myocardial infarction, dosed physical activity is included in the complex of rehabilitation therapy. If the disease is at the initial stage, then walking in moderation can be an effective prevention of the progression of the disease.
Healthy people, by regularly walking, train their heart muscle. This is due to the fact that during dynamic walking, working muscles need more oxygen and nutrients, so the heart begins to contract even more intensely.
However, the load for patients with heart disease should not provoke any pain in the heart, or arrhythmias, or shortness of breath. Otherwise, such activities will be harmful.
2. Maintaining muscle tone
By devoting 30 minutes every day to walking, a person maintains his muscle tone and prevents the development of obesity in himself. If you are not close to classes in the gym with weight lifting, running or swimming, then you can replace such exercises with walking. And if you walk uphill, then the effect of it will be even more effective.
1. Relief from back pain
Daily walks will help in the fight against back pain. This form of physical activity is ideal for those who are contraindicated in other types of strength training. Walking is a low-impact exercise, so it does not bring the same discomfort as running. It also stimulates active blood circulation in the spine and improves its flexibility.