The Benefits Of Walking In The Morning
Starting your day with a walk — whether it’s around your neighborhood or part of your commute to work or school — can offer your body a number of health benefits.
Walking in the morning has many benefits. Be sure to stretch before and after your walk and to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, even during the winter.
So let’s have a look at some of the benefits of walking in the morning, and why you may want to start your day by getting in some steps. There are also a few tips to seamlessly work it into your daily routine.
It Boosts Our Energy
Starting out our day with a walk may give us more energy throughout the day. If we walk outdoors, that’s especially true.
Studies show that adults who walked for 20 minutes outdoors experienced more vitality and energy than those who walked for 20 minutes indoors, so the treadmill at the gym or at home does not offer the same benefits. Sorry.
It Improves Our Mood
Morning walks also offer physiological benefits. Here’s what it may help with:
- improve self-esteem
- boost mood
- reduce stress
- reduce anxiety
- reduce fatigue
- ease depression symptoms or reduce your risk for depression
For best results, try walking for 20 to 30 minutes, at least 5 days a week.
It May Help Us Lose Weight
Walking in the morning may help you meet your weight loss goals. Walking at a moderate pace for 30 minutes can burn up to 150 calories. Combined with a healthy diet and strength training, you may find you lose weight.
It Can Improve Our Overall Health
Walking can offer numerous benefits for our health, including boosting our immunity, as well as preventing and helping us prevent various health conditions.
Studies have shown that walking for 30 minutes per day can reduce the risk for heart disease by 19 percent. It can also help lower blood sugar levels, which is important for people prone to diabetes and diabetics.
Walking in the morning can even help increase our life span and reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Win-Win!
It Makes Our Legs Stronger
Walking helps strengthen the muscles in our legs. For best results, walk at a moderate to brisk pace. Try to change up your routine and climb stairs, walk up and down hills, or walk at an incline on the treadmill if you have to work out indoors.
Add in leg-strengthening exercises like squats and lunges several times a week for more muscle tone.
It Improves Mental Clarity
A morning walk may help improve our mental clarity and ability to focus throughout the day. A recent study found that amongst older adults, those who started their days with a morning walk improved their cognitive function, compared to those who remained sedentary.
Walking may also help us think more creatively. Research shows that walking opens up a free flow of ideas, which may help you problem-solve better than if you’re sitting or remaining sedentary. This is especially the case if we walk outdoors.
The next time you have a morning meeting or brainstorming session, suggest that your co-workers join you on a walk, if possible 🙂
It Helps Us Sleep Better At Night
Walking first thing in the morning may help us sleep better at night. This is due to a couple of reasons.
First: when we start our day early and at the same time every day, our body and brain get used to it, making it easier to switch off when we slow down at the end of the day. And second: starting the day exercising will make you naturally tired at the end of the day, improving the quality of sleep.
