Benefits of walking daily

What are some benefits creating the habit of walking daily? For me walking is keeping me active while I continue on my road to recovery from my stress fracture surgery I had over a year ago. Just to give you a bit of a back story on how I got here, well I acquired a stress fracture while working out with a personal trainer. The workouts we did were tough and ultimately caused my already fragile right tibia to crack. I ended up out of work and on disability for 9 months as a result. Once surgery was over and I was cleared to exercise again, walking was how I started to attempt to get back to the level of fitness I was at before the injury. I initially started by walking a few miles and eventually got up to 5 miles. Once I got to 5 miles I started experiencing hamstring issues so I’ve gone back to 1-2 miles a day until my recovery is complete.

So now let me list for you some benefits of walking that I discovered when I researched the topic.

  1. Your brain improves your mood—I can say from my own experience that I feel so much better after my morning walks. It makes me happy and I feel so energized and ready to start my day.

  2. Relieves back pain- according to my physical therapist our body loves movement so when you have aches and pains a lot of times you need to become more mobile to help decrease that discomfort.

  3. Heat lowers blood pressure and lowers your risk of a heart attack. Walking is a great form of beginners cardio.

  4. Tightens abdominal muscles. Having tightened abdominal muscles strengthens our core which is very vital in promoting fitness and health.

  5. Keeps knee joints healthy. I personally know that walking on that track has helped me remain active without experiencing knee pain like I would experience walking the stairs and or more strenuous workouts.

  6. According to the Mayo clinic benefits of walking are: a.Maintains a healthy weight.
    b.Prevents or manage various conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.
    c.Strengthens your bones and muscles.
    d.Improves your mood.
    e.Improves your balance and coordination.

Lacrisha Lomax