Human physique needs movement to be in good shape. We need to take rest or sit down for certain amount of time and then we are supposed to move around so that there is proper blood flow and the muscles and sinews are well exercised. Lack of such movement will result in harmful consequences for our health.

Let us now look at some of the bad effects of remaining stationary for a long time at a stretch.

Heart gets affected

Researches made a study of two groups, transit drivers who sit for long hours during the day and conductors or guards, who keep moving. Both the groups followed the same diet and lifestyles but the drivers were found to be more at risk of getting a heart disease than the conductors who either stood or moved around.

The above example shows how sitting can harm our health and our hearts.

Dementia may follow

When you sit for long hours, your brain looks similar to the brain of someone with dementia. Along with dementia, sitting can lead to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high BP and high cholesterol. All these conditions can contribute to aggravate dementia.

Moving throughout the day helps more than regular exercise to lower the risk of health problems.

Results in diabetes

If you sit all day then you naturally burn fewer calories and increases your chance of gaining weight which can contribute to making you diabetic. Though not clearly understood studies show that sitting can change the way the body reacts to insulin too. It affects the who metabolism incuding burning of sugar and carbs for energy.

Causes DVT

Sitting for too long causes clots to form in your legs, this leads to Deep Vein Thrombosis or DVT. The same clot can break and later lodge in the lungs causing serious health problems. There may be pain and swelling for many people.

Unusual weight gain

When you sit and watch tv, play video games and surf the web for the whole day, you’ll end up being overweight and obese. You may think you can compensate by doing exercise but it does not help and does not help in reducing any weight, as you will continue to sit in front of the screen.

Anxiety levels increase

More and more people spend time sitting all by themselves and are engaged in screen based activity. This can later disrupt your sleep and increase your anxiety. The result is that you increasing withdraw from the social circle.

Strains your back

Being in the seated position puts huge strain on your back, muscles, neck and spine. If you slouch then the case can be even worse. Which means sitting and slouching will lead to a painful and stressed back. No matter how comfortable you get with ergonomic chairs etc., your back will still not accept long sitting sessions.

Cancer risk goes up

The habit of spending time sitting will lead to colon, endometrial or lung cancer. The risk of cancer increases as you go on sitting. Women may be at risk of breast cancer.  Being active afterwards does not help, what matters is how much you sit.

When you reach the ripe age of 50 or above the body is not the same as it was when you were 20. Even though you very much want to, you’ll not be able to do the same things that you did when young and nor should you attempt to. But there is a way out, it is exercise, which is the key to your independence and a good quality of life as you age. The only thing you should think about is being healthy with exercise without hurting yourself.

Benefits of exercise

Everyone tends to lose muscle mass as they get older; exercise is one way of helping the body rebuild it. Another thing is that muscles burn more calories than fat, even at rest; this can offset your slow metabolism. Heart disease is the biggest problem as you age, exercise helps stop, delay or sometimes improve serious illness like heart disease. Other diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer’s, arthritis and osteoporosis can be controlled or even kept away with exercise.

Choice of exercises

Cardio exercise increases heart rate and makes you breathe harder; this builds your endurance and burns calories. Strength and weight training helps to maintain muscle strength, flexibility exercise ensures that your mobility is intact and you avoid sudden injuries. Equally important is balance training, so that you prevent falls and be on the move. Lower impact exercise with much less jumping and pounding will be right for your joints.

Advantage Walking

Walking is the simplest and most effective exercise for those past 50. It helps build your stamina, strengthens lower body muscles and helps keep away bone diseases like osteoporosis. Get it scheduled in your day and make it solo or better still social, thereby you’ll get exercise as well as chat with a friend or group.

Is Jogging OK?

Once you consult your doctor and get the go ahead then jogging can get you a bit more sweating. It ups your heart rate also. You should take it slow and steady, wear the right walking shoes and take small walking breaks in-between you’re jogging. Select soft surfaces like athletic tracks or grass, since hard surfaces will again affect your joints in the long run. Before you start jogging every day prepare yourself by doing the right kind of warm up for you calves and hips, by doing some stretching and strengthening exercise.

Other sports activities like golfing, cycling, swimming and tennis will have varied yet positive impact on your health, helping you regains strength and vitality. Yoga will help those above 50 to stretch, strengthen the muscles as well as improve breathing, lower blood pressure and relieve stress.

What’s best schedule

Those in good health can get at least 150 minutes of moderate cardio activity a week. Spread the schedule over 3 days or minimum 10 minute activity. Spend at least twice a week in working the muscles in your arms, legs, back, abs, chest and shoulders.

Walking is a god give gift to humans. Our bodies have evolved to undertake walking. We are all aware of the many pronged benefits of walking even though our knowledge would be mostly hearsay. Let us now examine how walking is beneficial for human health and wellness and what may be the specific benefits of making a habit of walking.

Distance and benefits

Walking on an average at least 5.5 miles per week at a slow pace of 2 miles per hour is enough to shower us with wellness and health. Such a walk lowers our risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. Those who walk faster and further can reap even more benefits.

Walking and women

Women who walked for at least 30 minutes a day can cut their risk of a stroke by 20 – 40%. Just a little effort can do wonders to help our blood move through the body the way it should. Whatever sort of walk you undertake is good, but if you push yourself a bit and get your heart rate up, then it strengthens the heart and lowers the blood pressure.

Goal for health

It is said that walking 10,000 steps at a time means you have covered around 5 miles.  This is a good goal for keeping you in fine health. Slowly you can work your way up. Better use a pedometer to count your steps, and step it up by at least 500 steps each week.

Brisk walking

Brisk walking is taken to be cardio exercise.  The ideal count is 150 minutes of exercise that raises your heart rate every week. Walking definitely fits this target. Walking does not require any special equipment except a pair of good walking shoes. To get a cardio credit, you should do more than a stroll and pick up pace.

Walking vs. running

For many years experts believed that pushing yourself hard and your heart r ate was the best way to strengthen the heart. This is easily done with running, but it turns out that brisk walking is just is just as good when it comes to bringing down our risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. All these help in keeping your heart healthy.

Losing weight

You should do a minimum of 300 minutes of brisk walking if you want to lose weight. Though it may sound like lot, it breaks down to less than 45 minutes of brisk walking each day.

If your schedule does not permit it then you can burn just as many calories with 20 minutes of high intensity exercise, 20 minutes of energetic running, followed by 1 minute of recovery walking.

This will improve the metabolism and help burn more fat.

Lowers risk of cancer

Walking lowers the risk of breast cancer in women because it lowers the estrogens levels in the blood stream and maintains optimal levels. Women and men who walk briskly or do other physical activities regularly are less likely to get colon cancer. Walking 30 minutes every day can keep cancer at bay.

Controls diabetes

Walking is really good for people with type 2 diabetes. An exercise like walking helps the hormone insulin get the sugar out of your bloodstream and into the cells where it is used to make energy. Walking thus lowers the risk of complication in diabetes, like nerve damage and kidney disease.

Walking is also good physical therapy, for improving arthritis and back pain condition. Walking is good for our bones since it is a weight bearing exercise.