Health

Add This Exercise To Your 2024 New Years Resolution List

05 January, 2024

Walking is a simple and easy activity that everyone can do if they want to start 2024 with health and exercise in mind. It can be difficult to start a new health related routine but walking is as simple as just putting aside thirty minutes of your day in your busy schedule. It is something that is widely recommended by health experts and has shown to have many benefits.

A study was done by researchers that resulted in significant reduction of abdominal fat due to walking 30 minutes a day (Göçer, E. Et. Al.). These individuals in the study walked at a pace that is considered moderately intense, but you can start slow and steady and work your way to increasing intensity. The test subjects in the study lost about 1 kg or 2.2 lbs over 12 weeks and lost about 2 (inches of waist circumference. Although this number seems small, the test subjects stayed at the same intensity and they did not change anything else in their day to day lives. The study focused on women, however the researchers who were conducting the study have also seen positive results in men with other studies. 

30 minutes is a very flexible amount of time to fit into your day. This time can either be done all at once, or you can split it up into different parts of your day. One thing that is recommended for diabetic patients is to walk after each meal to reduce blood glucose levels that normally come with eating. Anybody can use this advise in which a simple breakdown would be to walk for ten minutes after having a meal assuming your eating breakfast lunch and dinner. If your meal plan is different than simply walk after your first and last meal of the day, and walk your other ten minutes after a meal of your choosing. 

Walking can be a very fun and easy exercise to start off with before moving forward to more intense activities. You can walk and sightsee in your neighborhood if you wish and then increase your intensity whenever you feel ready. Walking is not so hard on your legs compared to weight training and high intensity aerobics. This exercise overall is a great way to start on a fitness journey as other individuals may start with too much intensity and end up feeling discouraged when they are over-exhausted and cannot continue their routine.

If you are someone who is looking to start off 2024 with health in mind, then walking is the perfect exercise for you.

Resources Used:

Göçer, E. Ardıç, F. Akkaya, N. Herek, D. (2017). Efficacy of Moderate-Intensity Walking Provided Feedback by ECE PEDO on Abdominal Fat in Overweight and Obese Women: A Randomized, Exercise Study. Turk J Phys Med Rehabil, 63(4), 340-347. doi:10.5606/tftrd.2017.1956. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31453477/;.

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