January 13, 2009

Excerpt from Bragg’s Build Strong Healthy Feet — Chap­ter 9
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The mus­cles of the feet, calves, thighs, but­tocks and abdomen all work when you walk. The oxy­gen your body needs to func­tion prop­erly is dis­trib­uted more effec­tively. The heart works harder, send­ing blood cours­ing through your veins to improve your entire cir­cu­la­tion. Even low or moderate-intensity walk­ing can offer many impor­tant car­dio­vas­cu­lar ben­e­fits, accord­ing to med­ical researchers. Reg­u­lar walk­ing: 3 to 4 times a week for 30 to 60 min­utes, depend­ing on inten­sity, can help nor­mal­ize cho­les­terol, blood pres­sure, elim­i­na­tion and also fights osteoporosis.

Walk­ing also reduces anx­i­ety and ten­sion and aids in weight loss. There are 3,500 calo­ries in a pound of fat. If an over­weight per­son walks just 20 min­utes a day and does not change their eat­ing habits, they can start los­ing weight.

Other ben­e­fits include the strength­en­ing and ton­ing of mus­cles, weight con­trol and rid­ding the body of tox­ins through per­spi­ra­tion. A reg­u­lar exer­cise pro­gram such as walk­ing also has a tremen­dously pos­i­tive effect on men­tal atti­tude. Just the act of get­ting out and doing some­thing phys­i­cal is, in itself, a mood ele­va­tor. The increase of blood cir­cu­la­tion in the brain lifts the spir­its, calms you down and makes you feel more self-confident. There are also chem­i­cal reac­tions caused by brisk walk­ing that increase the level of endor­phins, which are vital chem­i­cals in the body that make us feel good!

Walk­ing is an exer­cise that needs no gym, nat­ural med­i­cine that requires no pre­scrip­tion, weight con­trol with­out diet, a cos­metic not sold in a drug­store. It is the tran­quil­izer with­out a pill, the ther­apy with­out a psy­cho­an­a­lyst, the foun­tain of youth that is no leg­end. A walk is a healthy mini-vacation that does not cost a cent. So, it’s easy to see that there is noth­ing to lose and every­thing to gain by invest­ing in a good pair of walk­ing shoes and going for a healthy fun walk.