Aerobic exercise is an important component of a healthy lifestyle. It is essential to the prevention and management of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and type 2 diabetes; it can also play an important role in the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis, tension headaches, depression, constipation and a variety of stress disorders.
With all due respect to marathon runners, triatheletes and extreme sports enthusiasts, walking is the natural form of exercise. And while I appreciate and enjoy competitive sports, having been on swimming and baseball teams for most of my youth, many of them (especially contact sports) can produce a lot of wear and tear over the years. By contrast, man was designed to walk and, unless the individual is careless, walking provides plenty of benefits with minimal risk of injury.
The health benefits of walking are often underestimated. More than an exercise for the leg muscles, walking requires the use of abdominal, back, neck, foot and shoulder muscles, utilizes numerous tendons, ligaments and joints, has positive, weight-bearing effects on bone calcification and triggers a cascade of neuromuscular activity that is necessary for proper balance and coordination. Add to this the aerobic benefits of walking and you begin to appreciate the value of this activity. Finally, though surely not least important, is the stress-reducing effects of this exercise, a benefit that is accentuated in quiet, natural environments.
