WILL WALKING IMPROVE MY HEALTH?
The short answer is YES!
A recent study (2018) concluded that one of the worst things you can do is NOT EXERCISE. Before you adopt an exercise routine consider discussing your plans with your doctor during your regular yearly wellness visit. Your doctor can check your blood pressure and order blood tests to ascertain a good starting point for your diet and exercise routine.
Exercise is not about losing weight but it DOES improve your health and you should consider doing some regularly (like four to six times a week). Your exercise routine should raise your heart rate up above your resting heart rate and you should maintain that level for 15-30 minutes at least three times per week (more would obviously be better).
Leisurely walking does not burn very many calories so consider stepping up the pace if you want to burn any calories at all.
If your goal is losing weight then you should focus very precisely on what you're putting in that large hole mounted directly under you nose.
THE TRACK
In our gym we have a 150-foot long track (around the perimeter of our porch), four laps around that is 600-feet, 10 of those four-lap sets is over a mile. We've avoided getting a running machine due to cost, maintenance and noise.
As an alternative to our indoor track we have an outdoor version that is just over 1/3 of a mile around the whole thing, three-laps is 5400-feet or just over a mile.
I sandwich laps around our track in between sets of weight lifting, this helps me keep my heart rate UP and in the right spot for conditioning and improvement. After working on this for four months I can do 16 sets of weight lifting exercises and 20 laps (12,000 feet) around the track in around one-hour and ten-minutes.
WALKING AND BLOOD PRESSURE
Daily exercise and eating the right foods has helped reduce my own blood pressure. Eating right has helped me reach and maintain my ideal weight while exercising has improved my energy and helped me feel more limber and healthy.
Happy eating and wishing you all the best with exercise!
