Health Benefits Of Walking 30 Minutes A Day

Improves Cardiovascular Health

Walking isn’t only an effective means of transportation and recreation. It is also an effective way to improve cardiovascular health and reduces the number of other markers for disease. Walking is an aerobic exercise, which has long been touted as one of the best ways to strengthen the heart and limit cardiovascular risk factors. Individuals get the most benefit from walking and other aerobic exercises when they are working hard enough to boost their heart rate to between seventy and eighty-five percent of its maximum, continue the effort for at least twenty minutes, and participate in the activity at least three times each week. Unlike other forms of aerobic exercise, walking is low impact while still providing the opportunity to boost an individual's heart rate. But keep in mind, it's important to walk thirty or more minutes at least five days a week to get the same benefits as other forms of aerobic exercise.

Increased Lung Health

An individual who walks for thirty minutes a day will experience increased lung health. The lungs are the organs in the body responsible for the process of bringing oxygen into the body and exchanging for carbon dioxide removal. Carbon dioxide is the waste product of energy production processes in the body. Walking causes an increased production of carbon dioxide and increased use of oxygen to supply the hard-working muscles. The body adapts to this change by increasing the breathing rate from fifteen times a minute to an average of fifty times per minute. This process increases lung strength and capacity over time so breathing becomes easier and healthy lung function lasts longer. Walking increases muscle function and strength, causing them to function more efficiently. Greater efficiency means less oxygen demand upon movement and less carbon dioxide production. The result is a decrease in the amount of air the individual needs to breathe in and out during physical activity. Walking helps with weight loss, as obesity can make it difficult for the individual to breathe even at rest.