Walk your way to a healthy life

The old saying an apple a day keeps the doctor way has lost its meaning now. If you take it literally, only eating an apple everyday can give some kind of nutrition, but if you don't have a balanced diet combined with exercise, you can end up with some disease or the other. These can limit your daily activities, cause mental tension and in turn affect your work too.

According to me a few general body exercises a day can keep you fit and fine. But you should know what kind of exercises to do, when and how. The simplest form of exercise is aerobic exercise. That doesn't mean you have to switch on the television and follow all the exercises performed by the young models on the screen. These have their own benefits. But do you actually have the time to do these? Besides, if you do not do them the right way you may end up with some other problems like aches and pains.

The safest form of exercise is walking. All of us know to walk, as it forms an important activity of our daily life. But how many of us ever walk outside our house or our office. Work has taken so much of our time and vehicles have made it easy to commute from one place to another that we actually don't need that most of us do not walk for more than 10 mins a day with of course many breaks in between.
So how is it that walking can keep you going till the end of the day? Walking involves the major muscles of your legs and also your trunk to some extent. These muscles pump up blood to your heart and help in better functioning of your heart pump.

Once you put these muscles to work, you will realize that you feel energetic.
There's a lot you can do to help yourself, starting with the right sort of exercise.
Walking as an exercise:
·    Keeps your joints mobile and reduces joint pain
·    Increases your muscle strength
·    Prevents joint deformities
·    Maintains and increases your ability to perform daily tasks
·    Increases your general and Cardio-vascular fitness and sense of well being
·    Helps to minimize the effects of osteoporosis.
·    Helps to keep you weight in check and prevent obesity.
·    Helps develop a positive attitude and healthier lifestyle.

But there are some precautions to be taken to make it a beneficial exercise without any side effects.
Wear proper, comfortable shoes with soft insoles and firm outer soles. Soft shoes are the best. Do not try walking in heel shoes or shoes with hard soles.
Walks are best if done first thing in the morning, or in colder climates, evenings are better. But make sure you do it on an empty stomach or at least 2 hours after meals. Diabetics should take care not to walk at least half an hour immediately after taking your medication especially those on insulin. They could also have a small fruit or biscuits in between.

You should walk a minimum of about 30 mins to a maximum of about 60 mins, but increase the time gradually over a few days and not suddenly. Brisk walking is the best. But always start with 4-5 mins of slow walk (warm up) followed by 20 mins of brisk walk and then again slow done for about 4-5 mins (cool down) before you stop.
Walk in a clean and green, pollution free environment. Some people say that they walk to work everyday, but if this involves walking on busy, crowded and polluted main roads, it wont help to a great extent. In turn you would end up having some respiratory problems.

For those of you who cannot really walk daily can make it a point to walk atleast thrice a week.
Also some of you may think that walking on a treadmill will help, but again the time and the protocol needs to be decided by your physiotherapist to prevent you from being victims of some other problems, especially if you are above the age of forty and not aware of your body's general exercise capacity.
For those of you who have Cardiac problems like High blood pressure or high levels of cholesterol, or any other major diseases, you may need to consult your Doctor and Physiotherapist for the correct regime of exercise for you.

If you have any doubts regarding the kind and time best suited for you to walk you need to consult you nearest Physiotherapist who would do certain tests to determine your exercise capacity and then decide the right regime for you. Walking is the simplest form of exercise, which can be followed regularly by people of all ages, young and old. All it needs is the right and positive attitude towards life, with a little time.

I like the 'Walk when you talk' campaign launched by IDEA. It has initiated a wave of awareness on fitness, across the country. However you need to remember that talking on your mobile while exercising is not good.
So keep walking, as life is a long journey and you need to keep up with the pace it's going to take you through. Happy walking.

-Barbara Mathias