I have been working remotely for ten years. Needless to say that the problem of a sedentary lifestyle has been actual for all these years? My example is a bit unusual. There has always been some movement in life. The sedentary lifestyle was accompanied by occasional high loads a couple of times a month (forest trips). But this is not enough. What is needed is regularity.
Today I will tell you about the most straightforward physical activity that you can practice daily — “regular walking.” Here I will tell you how large-scale the results arise just from regular walks.
Disclaimer: There will be no medical advice here. If you feel or expect any health problems, rely on the opinion of your doctor.
Why Walking
I will not be threatening you with the consequences of an exceptionally sedentary lifestyle. This is harmful and contributes to the development of a whole bunch of diseases. For details, I recommend referring to medical research.
As a preventive measure, moderate physical activity is needed. The emphasis here should be on the word “moderate” since hardsports, especially without competent training, do not affect health in the best way.
Exercise has traditionally been associated with fitness, exercise equipment, and swimming. Our company has a practice of compensating the annual subscription to the hall in a certain amount. But in the current rhythm of life, this is disastrously inconvenient. The working day already has to be “squeezed” between children’s morning and evening logistics (kindergarten, school). Daily problems complicate the idea of visiting a gym or pool at off-peak. However, the idea of working out in a crowd does not inspire. Plus, the road is a massive waste of time.
Running is popular as an alternative to the gym. But this is not for me either. I can’t run and don’t like it.
Some time ago, having moved to the city center, I began to walk around the neighborhood. A little more than six months ago, such walks became regular. Why?
Physical benefits
Walking is beneficial for the whole range of muscles and the heart.
The metabolism improves the general muscle tone. Here’s what Rospotrebnadzor thinks about this. There is no data that N minutes of walking a day will extend your life by X years. It’s only about probabilities. But subjectively, walking makes you feel better.
Psychological Relief
Walking helps to relieve psychological stress and helps to think. Studies have found that walking does not affect intelligence. Still, it allows you to look at the problem from a different angle and stimulate divergent thinking — searching for the optimal solution from the multitude. In general, the mood improves after the walk. In one of the internal calls, my colleague used, in my opinion, an interesting definition of what happens to him as a result of a regular 30–45 minute walk in the morning: “I’m getting energized! Thinking becomes more energetic. “
Almost free and very affordable
You don’t need a sports team, gym, equipment, etc., for walking. You can start your walk from any point on the map, and you can finish at any time. Moving around the country, you do not need to take anything to continue training in a new place.
From the point of view of the necessary ammunition, walking is extremely cheap. You will only have to get comfortable shoes if you have not already done so. Also, change it a little more often — especially on asphalt, shoes wear out.
Can fit into the schedule of life
Office workers are recommended to replace public transport on the way to work with a bicycle, jogging, or walking. But if you work remotely from home without renting additional premises, there is no such regular route. However, in any case, there is some movement. In my case, it turned out that only a tiny part of long-distance walks are not in pedestrian zones. Everything else can be walked, saving on transport and looking at the historical buildings. As a result, there is a load, and you can buy a more suitable car for trips in the forest since you do not have to push through traffic jams every day.
How to start?
The most difficult and, probably, the main thing is to force yourself to leave the house.
Getting out of a warm apartment, especially in late autumn and winter, is not so easy at first. Habits and obligations help. It is necessary to gradually develop the habit of walking and/or impose obligations so that it is impossible not to walk.
Reshaping Your Schedule
Walking, like any sport, is time. At first glance, it seems that the day is already as dense as possible. Where do you include another 1.5–2 hours of walking here?
- Some cases, for which public transport, car sharing, a taxi, or a private car were previously used, can be “converted” into walking activity (bureaucracy with documents, clinics, etc.). Yes, bureaucratic quests on foot are slower. But the schedule no longer depends on traffic jams and adds variety, because you can walk on different routes.
- I have two children — there are logistics related to the school and kindergarten. It is convenient to pick up and take away on foot. At first, the children, who were always taken by car, were outraged. But the explanations about the benefits helped. These are the very commitments that will keep you from “jumping off” a good habit.
- The same goes for informal meetings. They can be assigned not on the next street, but farther away, so you need to walk a little.
Increasing the Distance Gradually
It makes no sense to start walking regularly with marathon distances and a fast pace.
Better to let the first walks be small, a couple of kilometers a day, so there are no negative emotions at the end. At this stage, every kilometer is valuable, even if it is one.
When choosing a pace, you should make sure that your breathing does not go astray. If we were talking about running, it would be worth following the pulse. However, when walking, this is relevant only at the very beginning for people with a very sedentary lifestyle and a very well-fed figure.
When walking becomes a joy, you can increase both the distance and the pace. It would be best if you did not rush to the growth of the load — it is essential. Better two days in a row, 5 km each, than a 15 km “race” and a complete rejection of the idea. When it gets boring, you can connect the ups and downs.
Walking can’t cause serious harm to you, but if you want to play with loads, I recommend Google in the direction of sports medicine.
Introducing gamification and electronic toys
Activity trackers that count steps will help you be proud of even small achievements in the early stages. Watches and applications delight with achievements. Many devices measure the heart rate simultaneously, measuring the intensity of the exercise in their units. If you set a personal goal in them, then it is easier to monitor the load.
What goals should you set for yourself?
There is a stereotype that you need to walk 10 thousand steps a day. But this number is just a marketing gimmick of the 60s of the last century. Before the Tokyo Olympics, it was used in Japan to promote a new pedometer. Of course, 10 thousand are now migrating from application to application, but it’s better to set personal goals for yourself.
If competing with yourself is not motivating enough, you can compete with others. No wonder there are so many services that allow you to share your sports results. Google Fit or apps from smartwatch manufacturers will show the track on a map, compare the results of several workouts, put it better on social networks, etc.
Coming up with goals and meanings
The invention of a goal can make you leave the house.
For example, those fond of photography can go to some vantage point at sunrise or sunset. I’m not a fan, but sometimes that kind of motivation works for me.
You can give meaning to walking in another way, perceiving it as preparation for something greater — let’s say, a walk in the mountains on a planned vacation.
Also, while recording a track, you can draw various funny figures on the city map. There are such examples on the Internet.
By the way, the time spent on a walk can be used to listen to music or audiobooks — something for which you always don’t have time.
Social aspect
Seek for sympathizers.
Walking is not a sports discipline. There is no community of professionals. Nothing prevents you from just finding friends with the same interests. Conversations during walks bring you closer.
Six months later
The body is individual, so I will not promise any specific effect.
The first changes in the state are noticeable already in the second week of regular walks. In my case, after six months:
- Distances have been subjectively reduced. If earlier it was “far away” to go to a neighboring area, now: “why not by foot, it’s close.”
- Stamina has improved. Going out into the wild, I don’t notice 20–30 thousand steps a day. I swim with a mask, and after swimming in cold water, sometimes the body does not immediately “start” to heat. Walking helps me to turn on the “internal heater.” There is enough strength for all daily activities.
- Night work disappeared. Walking has gradually become the border between work and the rest of life. If the walk begins after 18, most likely, I will not sit down to work, although I do not set a strict ban on myself. Understanding that there will be no time for finishing in the evening makes you mobilize during the day.
- A mechanism for adjusting the quality of sleep has appeared. I know for sure if, for some reason, sleep is disturbed, this can be corrected by walking at the right place at the right time. Sometimes, if the violations are serious, it takes up to a week of “practice.” But the mechanism always works flawlessly in my case.
- New preferences in music have appeared — following the pace of walking.
I am not talking about weight reduction. Of course, a specific lifestyle is of much greater importance here, so you cannot achieve everything just by walking. But for me, walking in the evenings is an excellent substitute for dinner. However, not everyone agrees with this.
Don’t neglect walking as a regular exercise.
