Health Benefits

Feel Better

"There's no doubt that physical exercise has a positive effect on stress and can calm the mind and relax the body,” says Lorna Lee Malcolm, Director of Reebok University UK.

Some of the benefits of exercise are:

• Increased level of energy
• Improved self-image and confidence
• Increased resistance to fatigue
• Countered levels of anxiety and depression
• Controlled appetite
• Released endorphins -- the body's natural feel-good hormones

Look Better

According to the American Psychological Association, 30%-40% of Americans are somewhat unhappy with their appearance, while another 45% may even experience anxiety or depression due to dissatisfaction with their appearance.

Increasing one’s level of fitness is a good way to focus energies more positively. Due to genetics and body types, all of us can't be thin, but we can be healthy. Instead of comparing ourselves to a model on the cover of a magazine, we can look in the mirror to find our own standard of beauty.

Physical activity helps build life-long methods for enhancing body image in the following ways:

• Tones your muscles
• Burns off calories to help lose extra pounds
• Helps you stay at your desired weight
• Provides confidence as you achieve your fitness goals
• Improves your posture

Work Better

How can walking and exercise help you work better? Here are just a few benefits to keep in mind:

Ease in Professional Networking

When you are involved in walking or exercise, you tend to feel good about your health and maintain a positive self-image. This puts you more at ease in social situations. Ultimately, it's the betterment of your confidence -- not your waistline -- that leads to your improved ability to lead a connected, busy professional life.

Intellectual Gains

The reasons aren't entirely understood, but several theories promote the effects of discipline and self-confidence gained through working out. Exercise increases blood and oxygen flow throughout the body, including the brain. This may explain why studies have shown that those who exercise react more quickly to stimulus than their less fit counterparts, pointing to a possible link between motor and intellectual skills.

Energetic Outlook

Studies have found that people who stay physically active tend to feel a sense of control over their environment, or at least at peace with it. They tend to be energetic and have a sense of self-awareness. Researchers have found that people who are self-aware have more circulating monocytes (disease-fighting white blood cells), and are more likely to resist infections. One study found that women with breast cancer who expressed their emotions had a 46% lower rate of recurrence than women who suppressed their feelings.

Lower Your Risk of Disease

The scientific evidence is growing and is more convincing than ever! People of all ages who are generally inactive can improve their health and well-being by becoming moderately active on a regular basis.

Regular physical activity substantially reduces the risk of dying of coronary heart disease, and decreases the risk for stroke, colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. It helps to control weight; contributes to healthy bones, muscles, and joints; reduces falls among older adults; helps to relieve the pain of arthritis; reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression; and is associated with fewer hospitalizations, physician visits, and medications.

Check out all of these proven health benefits linked to physical activity.

• Reduces tension and feelings of stress
• Controls and prevents hypertension
• Improves blood lipid profile
• Prevents type 2 diabetes
• Improves cells' sensitivity to insulin
• Enhances weight control
• Prevents coronary heart disease
• Increases bone density and lowers risk of osteoporosis

Hypertension control and prevention

Mild to moderate exercise appears to be even more beneficial than high-intensity exercise for controlling hypertension. A regular walking program is ideal for people who are trying to bring hypertension under control. Walking may reduce resting blood pressure by helping people lose weight, reducing feelings of stress, or changing the chemical or neural factors that contribute to hypertension.

Reduced tension and feelings of stress

Many individuals find the easy, natural, repetitive motion of exercise to be soothing. Walking is one of the most popular ways to reduce tension. Add a good walking buddy, some interesting scenery or good music, and you have a welcome break in the day for having fun and reducing stress.

Improvement in blood lipid profile

The hours spent walking pay off with positive effects on blood lipid profile. Even when walking intensity is not high enough to cause measurable improvements in cardiovascular fitness, (such as improvements in VO2max), levels of HDL still increase. A higher HDL level indicates reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

Prevention of type 2 diabetes

Increased exercise -- including walking -- means a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, blood sugar regulation is impaired not from a lack of insulin, as in type 1 diabetes, but because the body's cells are not responding appropriately to insulin present in the bloodstream. In a healthy person, insulin signals the cells to let blood sugar in so that it can be used to make energy, or so that it can be stored. In type 2 diabetes, the cells are insensitive to insulin's signal, and sugar remains in the bloodstream instead of entering the cells.

Exercise improves cells' sensitivity to insulin. It prevents weight gain and obesity, which are leading risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes. In addition, exercise increases cells' glucose uptake through several different pathways, including both insulin-mediated and non-insulin-mediated pathways. Recently analyzed data from the Nurses Health Study at Harvard Medical School found that women who walked for exercise had a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than their sedentary peers, even when other important variables, such as body mass index, were statistically controlled. Like other studies, this one found a close relationship between walking pace and risk reduction. The researchers found that brisk walking (around 5 METS for about 5 hours per week) had an equivalent effect to more vigorous exercise. In other words, the researchers concluded that brisk walking and vigorous activity were both associated with similar levels of risk reduction for type 2 diabetes. Comparable results have been found for studies of men.

Weight control

Regular exercise is an essential part of any weight-control program. Because of its convenience and familiarity, walking is a popular activity. The total caloric expenditure counts when weight reduction is the goal, since more calories burned should translate into more weight loss. Low to moderate intensity activities, such as walking, are ideal for a less-fit population because they are well-tolerated and can be performed for longer durations; therefore, the calories burned can really add up. Walking also has a fairly low rate of injury.

Coronary heart disease prevention

Since hypertension, poor blood lipid profile, diabetes, and obesity all increase a person's risk for coronary artery disease, it stands to reason that walking should reduce the risk for coronary heart disease. Several studies have found that brisk walking for 3 to 4 hours per week reduces the risk of heart attack and underlying cardiovascular disease in both men and women. For example, researchers working with the Nurses Health Study estimate that walking at a moderate pace for 3 or more hours a week reduces a woman's risk of heart attack by about 30% to 40%. Similar results have been found in studies of men.

Increased bone density and lower risk of osteoporosis

Weight-bearing physical activities, such as walking, challenge the musculoskeletal system to become stronger. For most healthy people, walking increases bone density without injuring the joints.