Why Walk?

Why Walk?The Multiple Benefits of Walking

Why Walk?The Multiple Benefits of Walking

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-Melts Fat

-Destroys Disease

-Tones Skin

-Eliminates Back Pain

-Improves Sleep

-Builds Bones

-Increases Productivity

-Improves Energy

-Makes You Happier


Melts FatMelts Fat



Melts FatMelts Fat

Walking the dog 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week produced an average weight loss of 14 pounds for

participants in a University of Missouri-Columbia study.

Melts FatMelts Fat

Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound of fatty tissue. So if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'd lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).

If you add 30 minutes of brisk walking to your daily routine, you could burn about 150 more calories a day. At that rate, you'd lose about another 1/3 of a pound a week.

Melts FatMelts Fat

What If You Walk 60 Minutes? + 150

What If You Change Your Diet? +500

What If You Crosstrain? +100

Melts FatMelts Fat

69 pounds of fat a year.



Melts FatMelts Fat

Managing your weight. Combined with healthy eating, physical activity is key to any plan for long-lasting weight

control. Keeping your weight within healthy limits can lower your risks of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer,

sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis.

Destroys DiseaseDestroys Disease




Decreasing your risk of heart attack. Exercise such as brisk walking for three hours a week or just half an hour a day is associated with a 30% to 40% lower risk of heart

disease in women. (Based on the 20-year Nurses' Health Study of 72,000 female nurses.)


Boosting "good" cholesterol: the level of high-density lipoproteins (HDL). Physical activity helps reduce low-

density lipoproteins (LDL or "bad" cholesterol) in the blood, which can cause plaque buildup along the artery walls - a

major cause of heart attacks.


Lowering your risk of stroke. Regular, moderate exercise equivalent to brisk walking for an hour a day, five days a week, can cut the risk of stroke in half, according to

a Harvard study of more than 11,000 men.


Reducing your risk of breast cancer and type 2 diabetes. The Nurses' Health Study also links regular activity to risk reductions for both these diseases. In

another study, people at high risk of diabetes cut their risk in half by combining consistent exercise like walking with

lower fat intake and a 5% to 7% weight loss.


Avoiding your need for gallstone surgery. Regular walking or other physical activity lowers the risk of needing gallstone surgery by 20% to 31%, found a Harvard study of

more than 60,000 women ages 40 to 65.


Controlling your blood pressure. Physical activity strengthens the heart so it can pump more blood with less effort and with less pressure on the arteries. Staying fit is just as effective as some medications in keeping down

blood pressure levels.


Walking reduces the risk of breast and colon cancer. Women who performed the equivalent of one hour and 15 minutes to two and a half hours per week of brisk walking had an 18% decreased risk of breast cancer compared with inactive women. Many studies have shown that exercise can prevent colon cancer, and even if an individual person develops colon cancer, the benefits of exercise appear to continue both by increasing quality of life and reducing mortality.


Walking prevents type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Prevention Program showed that walking 150 minutes per week and losing just 7% of your body weight (12-15 pounds) can reduce your risk of diabetes by 58%.

Tones SkinTones Skin

Sweat contains small amounts of antibiotics that can combat some of the bacteria that are found naturally on the skin. Sweating can also unclog pores which will help improve the skin‘s tone, clarity and texture. Profuse sweating can also slow the signs of early aging and help reduce the effects of skin damage.

Builds BonesBuilds Bones

In a study conducted on bone loss, women who walked briskly enough to become winded for five days a week, for over 15 weeks were found to have a .4% INCREASE in bone mineral density whereas women who did not suffered from 1% density LOSS.

The theory is that intense exercise triggers greater secretion of hormones that may increase bone mineralization.

Eliminates Low Back PainEliminates Low Back Pain

Sweat contains small amounts of antibiotics that can combat some of the bacteria that are found naturally on the skin. Sweating can also unclog pores which will help improve the skin‘s tone, clarity and texture. Profuse sweating can also slow the signs of early aging and help reduce the effects of skin damage.



Eliminates Low Back PainEliminates Low Back Pain

A University of Alberta study of 240 men and women with chronic lower-back pain showed that those who exercised four days a week had a better quality of life, 28 per cent less pain and 36 per cent less disability, while those who hit the gym only two or three days a week did not show the same level of change.

Improves SleepImproves Sleep

A recent Stanford University Medical School study may come as no surprise: older and middle-age people reported sleeping better when they added regular exercise to their routine. After 16 weeks in a moderate intensity exercise program, subjects were able to fall asleep about 15 minutes earlier and sleep about 45 minutes longer at night.



Increases ProductivityIncreases Productivity

University of Bristol researchers found that employees who enjoyed a workout before going to work - or exercised during lunchbreaks - were better equipped to handle whatever the day threw at them.

It also found that people's general mood improved on days of exercise but they became less calm on non-exercise days.


Walking is good for your brain. In a study on walking and cognitive function, researchers found that women who walked the equivalent of an easy pace at least 1.5 hours per week had significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline than women who walked less than 40 minutes per week.

Makes You HappierMakes You Happier

Walking helps alleviate symptoms of depression. Walking for 30 minutes, three to five times per week for 12 weeks reduced symptoms of depression as measured with a standard depression questionnaire by 47%.

Increases EnergyIncreases Energy

In a University of California study, twenty-three participants wore pedometers that measured the number of steps they took every day for ten days and also rated their mood three times a day. The more steps people walked a day, the higher their energy level.

Ben’s Top TipsBen’s Top Tips

Wear Proper Shoes




Warm-Up




Use the “Eating Window”




Be Consistent




Move Your Body




No Rails!

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Why Walk?

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Why Walk?