We all know regular exercise is essential to a healthy body, but you don’t have to rush for a gym membership or buy an expensive machine; a simple daily walk will do wonders for your body and mind. If you make a point of taking a brisk walk every day, you may reap the following health benefits:

1. Lower your risk of disease – the CDC recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week to help avoid obesity and reduce your risks of developing such health conditions as heart disease, type 2 diabetes. A daily 30-45 minute walk would put you well on your way to a more optimistic health forecast.
2. Promote a healthy heart – During a brisk walk, your heart becomes more efficient at delivering oxygen and nutrients around the body. Regular walking can also help lower high cholesterol and blood pressure.
3. Strengthen your body – regular exercise can help strengthen your bones and muscles, helping slow or help prevent osteoporosis.
4. Stave off stress (and the blues) – Having a particularly stressful or sad day? Try taking a walk around the block. It will help get those endorphins flowing, naturally lowering your stress levels, energizing your mind and body, as well as boosting your blue mood.
5. Condition your lungs – Routine exercise can help increase your lung capacity. If you’ve been sedentary for a long time or have a lung condition, you should start off slow and gradually increase the intensity and duration of your walk, in turn you will be increasing your lung capacity as well.
6. Improve your self esteem – Once you get walking regularly and see some of the benefits take shape, a boost in your self esteem won’t be far behind.
7. Trim your waistline – You can burn over 150 calories in one 30-minute walk. To burn a nice 300 a day, simply go for a longer trot, or break it into 2 walks daily. A few weeks into your walking routine you should see those inches start to drop off, providing that you are also maintaining a healthy diet as well.
8. Get some you time or friend time ­– For those of you who are introverts, time to yourself can be a valuable (and sometimes scarce) commodity. Why not take a solitary stroll to recharge your batteries? If you are an extrovert on the other hand, why not call your best exercise buddy and go for a little social time while you exercise!
9. Vitamin D – if you are taking your walks outside, you get the added benefit of working toward your recommended daily vitamin D quota – just be sure to put on sunscreen first!

We hope you start your new daily walking routine soon to start realizing these benefits! Thanks for visiting DocChat.