Want a fresh and energetic start to your day?  Begin with a walk in the early morning sun.

Need to release some stress?  Gossip with your neighbour while walking in the neighbourhood park.

Want to spark some ideas?  Meet your colleague and problem solve while walking around the block.

Feeling stuffed after a heavy dinner?  Take a brisk after-dinner walk and normalise those glucose levels.  

Need to loosen those stiff joints?  Walking is the perfect solution.

Want to lose fat?  Walk for at least 1 hour every day.

​Is walking really that great?

Yes!  Walking is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. 

Even just 30 minutes every day can improve heart health, strengthen bones and boost muscle power and endurance. It even improves blood flow to and throughout your brain, improving cognitive performance.  It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.

Walking is low impact, requires minimal gear, can be done at any time of day and can be performed at your own pace.

And what else?  Walking is great for fat loss!  

Source:  Dr Andrew Murray on Twitter

​So how do you make sure to walk more every day?

Walk every day for at least 30 minutes as briskly as you can. ‘Brisk’ means that you can still talk but not sing, and you may be puffing slightly.  A good pace would typically be around 6 km per hour. Build your walking time up to 45 minutes/ 1 hour each day if you can.

If it’s too difficult to walk for 30 minutes at one time, do regular small bouts (say, 10 minutes three times per day) and gradually build up to longer sessions.

Apart from a regular walk, incorporate more movement into your everyday life: 

Start off each walk at a leisurely pace to give your muscles time to warm up, and then pick up the speed. Afterwards, gently stretch your leg muscles – particularly your calves and front and back thighs.
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