When I first started exercising after I graduated high school, I chose walking because I wanted to lose weight, and cardio is the best way to achieve that goal, but it was very short-lived. I was forcing my body to do way too much cardio than I needed, which caused me to have a lot of pain that took years to recover from and eventually led to burnout. I stopped doing cardio workouts for several years because I was afraid of that pain coming back but recently, I decided I was going to overcome that fear and start doing it again with a slightly different approach. I do not walk two miles a day like I did a few years ago because that was too much for my disabled body and was doing more harm than good. People sometimes say that walking is not exercise, but I disagree because if you walk fast enough or add resistance, you can get a great workout from walking. I don’t walk much, because I haven’t built up my endurance to walk for very long, but it has improved my health in more ways than I ever thought it would. In this post, I am going to talk about positive changes that have happened since I started walking.
I have more energy– I live with chronic pain because of endometriosis and struggle with fatigue more than someone without the condition, and there is nothing I can do to change that. My cardio workouts have not cured my fatigue because nothing will, but I have noticed that I do have a little more energy than I did before I started walking. I struggled with bad fatigue for a very long time and thought my pain was to blame, but soon realized that a lot of my fatigue was because I wasn’t doing enough cardio. I do three short walks a day that are under ten minutes, and you wouldn’t think that would do much, but it has given me more energy than I have ever had before and I sleep better which I never thought would happen. Walking is a great low-impact form of exercise and is one of the only ways I can get a great cardio workout. You don’t always have to do high-impact exercise and you should never underestimate the power walking will do for your health.
I actually look forward to it– If you had told me a few years ago that I would one day be doing daily walks and look forward to it, I would have laughed at you. I probably would have said something along the lines of ” that’s not possible, and you only do cardio because it’s good for your heart, but you don’t enjoy it.” When I started walking consistently in November, I hated it because it was hard, but the more consistent I was, the less I hated it. I never thought liking cardio workouts was ever going to be a reality for me, and I think what made the biggest difference is the way I approached my workouts. Before I do a walk, I never say that this is going to be a terrible workout because when I do that, I don’t perform as well. My cardio workouts are not about how many calories I burn, and I turn it into a competition I have with myself to make fitness fun. I look forward to my cardio workouts and have not skipped a workout, and if I did, it was probably a rest day. You can learn to love workouts that you previously hated and sometimes it takes time and a slightly different approach.
I started paying more attention to my nutrition. When you start doing more exercise, the last thing you ever want to do is undo your progress by not fueling your body properly. I was raised to eat healthy and have always prioritized healthy eating, but since I started walking more, I think more about my nutrition because I don’t want bad nutrition to affect my workouts. I pay more attention to the foods I eat and try to eat in a way that is going to fuel my workouts, and you won’t find me eating brownies multiple times a day because that affects my performance. Nutrition plays a major role in your fitness progress and I have found that I think more about my nutrition than I ever have because when I have more energy I can exercise at a higher intensity.
It helps me build muscle faster– I started walking because I wanted to build muscle, which you will achieve when you prioritize strength training, but it can be difficult when you skip cardio. Strength training has always been my main form of exercise because you build more muscle in a strength session than you do in a cardio workout, but both are important for muscle growth. There are not a lot of ways that I can get a good cardio workout without using both my arms and legs because I walk with crutches and have a little more of an added strength training benefit than most people. I have not stopped my strength workout because strength training helps you get faster speeds, and walking doesn’t challenge my arms like strength training does. Walking after a strength session is rough, and because of that, I have built so much muscle which has always been my goal, even if it doesn’t look like I have.
My hip and knee pain lessened- I had hip replacement surgery on my right leg and at some point, may need to consider a second hip replacement. Hip replacement surgery is something I will have repeated if I have to, but is something I try to avoid at all costs because it’s a painful surgery that takes years to recover from. One of the main reasons I started exercising more is that I started experiencing mild hip and knee pain in my other leg and was concerned I’d need a second hip replacement sooner rather than later. Walking did not take away the pain entirely, and I may need to do something about it later, but it did improve it, so nothing needs to be done immediately. You cannot always avoid hip replacement surgery because you can’t change your disability, but you can lessen the likelihood of needing one by keeping everything as strong as you can.
People sometimes will over-complicate fitness, but you should never underestimate the power of going back to the basics and going for a walk or lifting some weights. Walking can improve your health, and if you think it’s too easy, try picking up the pace, adding resistance, or walking for a longer period of time. Never underestimate the power of a walk because you don’t need to always be doing high-impact workouts to improve your fitness, and some people shouldn’t be doing high-impact workouts. Daily walking has given me so many health benefits and I have a lower resting heart, more mobility and I am not going to go back anytime soon. Some people are not going to enjoy exercise and that is okay, but you should make it part of your routine if you can because that is not a good reason to skip it. A sedentary lifestyle can cause avoidable health issues because our bodies are made to move. Do you enjoy walking? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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My Rockin Disabled Life 