There are several reasons why power walking is such an efficient and important exercise. If an individual has time to perform only one exercise each day, a good power walk would be an excellent choice at least 4 out of 7 days a week.
Why is power walking so efficacious at keeping the human body in such good working order?
The human frame is constructed in such a way that it does in fact require daily movement. As many today believe, this understanding should not be viewed as voluntary; rather, it ought to be considered compulsory if one is to enjoy good and robust health in the later years of life. With that said, no matter what forms of exercise we choose, they ought to be fun and enjoyable or else we will neglect them.
Toward that end, a brisk power walk can be as rejuvenating and uplifting as any other exercise. When performed under the night sky or on a sunny day in the park, it also provides a great way to reconnect with the healing energies of nature.
The woods and forests areas are full of oxygen as trees and plants are forever releasing O2 into the atmosphere. Therefore, an oxygen-rich environment is quite ideal in which to do one’s daily walk. Certainly, it is preferable to a treadmill in a small gym with dozens of other huffers and puffers running alongside in place.
In fact, Scientists in Japan have been reporting on the immunopotentiating and stress-relieving benefits of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, since 1982, but only recently has the trend crossed the ocean.
The ground rules for a healthy and wholesome walk are several and uncompromising. As follows:
- “You want to walk outside in the fresh air – morning and evening are best. Freshness of the morning air is tantalizing; the coolness of night air is the world’s best sleeping pill.
- You want to walk on the earth whenever possible (parks, trails, grass in the back yard). Stay as far away from roads and highways as possible! What’s the point of breathing in car fumes while you do a deep breathing power walk? Also, you don’t want to be breathing the rubber dust from all the spinning tires near interstates.
- You want to stay away from any kind of gym, spa or indoor track; the air quality is awful in such poorly ventilated areas. Especially stay away from malls, perhaps the most unhealthy craze ever started in the country; the formaldehyde from all the new clothes and other merchandise alone is enough to get you high.
Read: Energetic Walking Shown to Increase Brain Size, Improve Cognition
- Do a minimum of a 20 minute walk, but better to do 30 if you can fit it in.
- Walk once a day, or at least 4 times a week.
- Start out slow and work up to a brisk pace so that it becomes an aerobic exercise fairly quickly.
- If you can, it’s good to stretch a little before and after you walk, especially in the cold weather. Your clothing ought to be warm when it is cooler.
- In the warmer weather when there is more perspiration, you’d best take a shower right after the work-out. In this way you can quickly wash off the toxins sweated out and not re-absorb them.
- Do not walk with a headset on, especially if you’re out on a road or sidewalk. Cell phones should be kept at home if possible, unless security is an issue. The point is that watching the breath and deep breathing will greatly facilitate your detoxification phase, and this is difficult to do when you’re hooked up to technology.
- If you’re walking around a track or in a circle, walk clockwise, not counter clockwise if you can.” [2]
Conclusion
Don’t miss your daily walk if you can help it. Try a power walk at least 3 or 4 times per week to get the added aerobic kick for the heart and circulatory system, as well as to work up a toxin-releasing sweat.
For those with a tendency toward either physical or emotional depression, there is perhaps no better antidote than a vigorous power walk. Maintaining a good steady pace until the endorphins start flowing can easily help one avoid a dependency on antidepressants such as the popular and regularly prescribed SSRIs.[1]
Truly, just like “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” a power walk a day can also keep the same physician at bay.
Endnotes
TheHealthCoach1
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