Walking Outside

Walking outside is so good for us it seems too good to be true. It turns out walking isn’t just incredibly beneficial for our health, we were made to walk. Walking improves every single system in our body. Name a system of the body or a body part and walking improves how it works.

Systems of the Body

Consider your heart. It’s a lot of work for your heart to pump blood all the way down to your feet and back. When we walk our muscles act as a pump and help move fluid through the body. This helps our circulatory system and other systems like our lymph system (which basically pumps waste among other jobs).

When we walk every part of the body has to work less hard to do it’s job. This reduces our rick of cardiovascular disease of all kinds, reduces stress, reduces our chance of developing type 2 Diabetes or becoming obese, and reduces erectile dysfunction (since that ties in with heart health). On the flip side walking boosts brain health, immunity, and mood. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. But if that’s not enough to convince you to take a walk right now, consider this:

Your Own Genes

A long, large study of twins based out of Finland found that it didn’t take much to make a significant change. People in the study who walked vigorously for 30-minutes SIX times a month reduced their mortality by 56%. That wasn’t a reduction compared to the general population. That was compared to their less active twin. Walking can help us beat our own genetics. (Note: it was not clearly stated whether this study was identical twins, which makes the info potentially a little less exciting, but still really worth walking.)

Now pair walking with stepping outside and you’ll have even greater gains. Research has shown that when we walk outside we walk faster, and though we are exerting more, it feels less challenging. That makes us more likely to do it.

Walking Outside

In addition walking outside boosts our mood. We relieve frustration, anger, and depression. Still, if that’s not enough, it improves body image. Researchers on the body image studies (plural) couldn’t say for sure why we feel better about our body when we walk outside. They speculate it is partly because when we see something beautiful it’s hard to simultaneously think negative thoughts about ourselves. Or, since we tend to be more active outside, they propose we may appreciate what our body does for us more.

Prettier spaces might have more perks. Some research (not all) indicated even greater gains in blue space (when you can see water) than green space (when you can see trees/grass). But it’s all good. And it doesn’t’ take much. Most of the mood boosting benefits came in the first 5 minutes outdoors.
Next time you are feeling stuck on a problem, frustrated at work, or need a moment’s break from you children or family, take a 5 minute walk. We often say we don’t have time, but in five minutes you can turn your whole mood around.

So grab a friend. Head out for a walk. Share a beautiful picture or how good it felt on your favorite social media outlet. Because you will encourage someone else to walk. And it’s so important for our overall health we need to encourage each other to get outside and KEEP WALKING!