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 and developed a fear of it. Recently, I decided I was going to overcome that fear and start doing it again with slightly different approach because it’s so good for you. I do not walk nearly as much as I did when I started and most certainly am not increasing the distance of my walk every single day like I was because that is what got me injured. 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. What happens when you start walking more? In this post, I am going to talk about positive changes I noticed when I started walking more.
I have more energy– I live with chronic pain because of endometriosis and struggle with a lot of fatigue and am not able to push myself as hard as someone without chronic pain can without burning myself out. My cardio workouts have not cured my fatigue because nothing will, but I have noticed that I do have a little more energy when I move by body as much as I can. 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 moving enough. I do three short walks a day that are a little over twenty minutes, and it has given me so much more energy. 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 cardio to improve your health and all you have to do is go for a ten-minute walk.
Bowel movement became easier– When you have Spina Bifida, going to the bathroom often is difficult because your bladder and bowel muscles often are affected and don’t work like they should. My bowel muscles have never worked properly and I have always struggled to go to the bathroom because mine have been damaged since the day I was born which cannot repaired. Exercising does not cure my bowel issues but it does help prevent painful constipation and people who are active tend to struggle less than those who never exercise. I still sometimes get constipated while exercising consistently and there is nothing I can do to change that but I have noticed that I get constipated less when I walk more.
My resting heart rate lowered- People sometimes think that in order to lower your resting heart rate that you have to do high-impact exercise but that could not be further from the truth. When I started walking more my resting heart rate lowered because any movement you do strengthens your heart. My resting rate will never be as low as a runner but that is okay because I don’t need to have the heart rate of an athlete and the ultimate goal is improved health. Walking will lower your heart rate and the lower your resting heart rate is the stronger your heart is and the less likely you will be to have heart problems.
It helps me build muscle faster– I started walking because my goal has always been to as much build muscle as possible 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, but if you want to improve your endurance and lift heavier, it’s so important you don’t skip cardio.
My hip and knee pain lessened- In 2020 I had hip replacement surgery on my right hip 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 still 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 exercising consistently.
I lost weight– When I started going on daily walks, my main goal was not weight loss but is something that happened because when you go from not walking at all to walking daily often you lose weight. I do use walk with a weighted backpacks that increases calorie burn but you don’t need to do that because walking combined with healthy eating is one of the best things you can do for weight loss.
People sometimes will over-complicate fitness and think you have to do super hard workouts to improve your health but never estimate the power of going on a walk and 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. Daily walking has given me so many health benefits and I have a lower resting heart rate, 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 not liking it is not a good reason to skip it. You can do the hardest workout in the gym if you want to but it’s not necessary because you can get great benefits from low-impact workouts. I personally prefer low-impact workouts because it doesn’t increase your hunger like some of the higher impact workouts do and isn’t as hard on your joints. What benefits have you gotten from daily walking? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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