Doctors and athletes say - movement is life, and lack of physical activity leads to disruption in the work of many vital systems. Therefore, the question naturally arises - how much to pass a day?
The health benefits of walking
The benefits of walking are obvious - a simple, affordable type of physical activity that has no contraindications, which can tone the body of a baby and an elderly person.
What are the benefits of this type of activity:
- Strengthens the entire musculoskeletal system, as they say from the very top to the heels.
- It has a positive effect on the normalization and course of metabolic processes.
- Increases the oxygen level in the blood and improves its circulation in the body.
- Strengthens the heart muscle and normalizes blood pressure.
- Increases the tone of all organs and systems of the body, decreases levels of harmful cholesterol in the blood.
- Stimulates the work of organs such as liver and fatty acids, lungs.
Plus, it helps to cope with stress and improve brain function, normalizes the central nervous system and helps in the production of the hormone of happiness - endorphin.
Its biggest advantage is simplicity. And it is enough to go through a couple of stops from / to work, walk to the store.
How many kilometers do you need to walk a day?
Walking is a universal means of strengthening and improving the whole body, and as many doctors note, it is enough to walk at an average pace of about 5-6 km per day.
For health
How much do you need to pass for your own health? If we talk about strengthening, a significant improvement in health, it is worth going through about 10-12 thousand steps a day. But doctors allocate their own rate of steps, taking into account age and gender.
For women, the data looks like this:
- 18 - 40 years old - the indicator is fixed at around 12,000 steps.
- 40 - 50 years - 11,000 steps
- For the age group from 50 to 60 years old - on average, it costs about 10,000
- And over 60 years old - 8,000 is enough.
For a man 18 - 40 years old - the norm is 12,000, and after 40 years - 11,000. As scientists note, these are average figures and if you think the best in terms of the state of the body is more or less, do it.
There are restrictions: recently undergone surgery and exacerbation of chronic pathologies, infectious diseases and disorders of the musculoskeletal system. In other cases, walking is only beneficial.
Slimming
If your number one task is to lose weight and tighten your figure, then walking will help with this, most importantly, it should be in the nature of intense training, and not an easy walk. In this case, race walking will suit you - an intensive pace of at least one and a half - 2 hours / day.
But do not immediately take an intense pace and overcome a long distance in it, start with short distances and choose a pace that is comfortable at the beginning for yourself:
- To fully combat the weight, it is worth walking 10,000 steps a day - start with a small amount of load, gradually increasing the number of steps and training time.
- Choose the pace of training at the rate of 1 kilometer in 10 minutes - in the presented mode for losing weight, you should walk at least 12 kilometers a day.
- More extra pounds means more mileage, but you can train heavier to improve performance. These are heavy shoes or weights for legs and arms, a special belt.
- To lose weight successfully will help walking up and down stairs and residents of high-rise buildings, you should not use the elevator. You have a ladder and an incentive to lose weight.
- The main thing in the process of intensive walking is the setting of breathing - for your 3 steps you should take one deep, full breath, and three steps further, take a deep breath.
Plus, you should definitely review your own diet.
For the elderly
And how much it costs for people of advanced age to pass - their numbers. Recall that for women aged 50-60 this figure is 10,000 steps, over 60 - 8,000, for men over 40 this figure is fixed at around 11,000 steps.
But in the presence of certain diseases, this figure may be less, or even completely exclude for the period of rehabilitation and recovery.
It is also important to consider a number of rules:
- Do not forget about the correct posture.
- Try to distribute the load evenly.
- Keep the pace of movement set at the very beginning.
- Breathe not through your mouth, but through your nose - beginners often fail to do this right away, but it's worth trying.
- You should not take walks on foot on a full stomach, but it is better to do them in the morning.
- Always calculate your route so that you have enough strength for the return journey.
At the very beginning of the start, it is worth setting a slow pace, and after such a warm-up, you can proceed to a more intense rhythm of walking.
Reviews
My first experience of training on foot began back in 1998 - only after graduation I got my first job in Kiev and walking became not just a struggle with excess weight, but also an incentive to get to know the city. In principle, this is how walking became a habit, and I will tell you - a nice thing.
Irina
I knew about the benefits of walking for a long time, but I could not get into the right rhythm, but when I was diagnosed with problems with the heart and joints, I made it a rule to walk home from work. Already in half a year, significant improvements were noticeable.
Tamara
Ever since my youth, I took the habit of walking and now at 63 years old - sore legs and joints are not my topic. Walk and do not suffer from excess weight and heart, joints.
Igor
For 9 months of walking to work and home, I lost 20 kilos. After giving birth, she recovered greatly, so the question arose about returning the figure to normal. Of course, many will say that the child takes away all his strength, but no - the baby was sitting with his grandmother, and due to circumstances, I should have gone to work for 5 months. I advise everyone.
Olga
When I sat out of work in the winter, I recovered greatly, but in the spring I again got a seasonal job, although I did not fit into my pants. Although at my job as a watchman, I walked. And you won't sit - with an interval of three hours it was necessary to bypass a considerable territory of the plant. In speed he returned to form.
Oleg
Hiking is a very rewarding activity available regardless of age, status and fitness. And if you follow simple rules, you improve your health and figure.
