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Walk your way to health
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A brisk 15-minute walk every day can help reduce the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer
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A WOMAN'S life is never her own. Like most women, you probably spend a good deal of your time caring for others. Children, husband, parents, grandparents, in-laws and the extended family and friends all need your support and help from time to time. A working woman has to scramble even more... to prepare meals, help kids with homework, manage health care for an aging parent, wash clothes, and generally keep the household running smoothly. The hours of the day just zoom past. The sense of time slipping through your fingers can sometimes be overwhelming. As a result, you probably do not spend enough time taking caring of yourself.
Indian women are at high risk for developing hypertension, diabetes and obesity, which alone or in combination can result in heart disease. There's one activity that you can start today to improve your health, and with so many people counting on you, what could be more important? That activity is walking. Walking has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and other chronic diseases, so consider it vitally important to your well being.
It has been shown without any prejudice that moderate exercise is the most important dynamic in modifying risk factors for heart disease.
"I don't have the time!" This is the first cry of protest from most women, especially those who are working. You have to make time. It is vital to your life. Here are some strategies to give you exercise in a busy day:
Wake up 30 minutes earlier than you normally do and before the family is up and about, take a short walk.
At home, walk up and down the stairs for 15 minutes. At work, take the stairs instead of the lift. Who needs an expensive Stairmaster at the gym when you have stairs at your disposal!
Get off at the bus stop before your usual one so that you can get 15 minutes of walking both going and coming from college, your workplace or any other destination.
If you live or work near the park, library, vegetable shop, department store or other frequent destinations, consider walking (rather than driving or taking public transportation) to get to where you need to go.
You can recapture your youth — skipping with a jump rope can be good exercise
Walk smart
Be sure to walk smart. If you haven't been active for a while, first check with your doctor. Your doctor can help you determine a walking schedule that's right for you based on your age, weight and current level of activity. Over time, you'll be able to walk farther and more quickly.
To make walking a regular part of your routine, consider walking with your husband. It is good for his heart too! If his schedule does not allow it, enlist a friend or a group of walkers. You can walk your dog if you have one.
Walking versus strolling
For walking to fall into the category of exercise, you must walk briskly for at least 30 minutes a day, and at least four times a week. This can even be split into sessions of 10 minutes three times a day or 15 minutes twice a day. For the walking to be considered effective, your pulse rate must increase but you should still be able to talk without becoming breathless. If you have arthritis or some other condition that prevents you from walking briskly, you can still get the benefits of exercise by walking slowly.
Hidden benefits
If you are walking alone, with your husband or a friend, use this time to:
look around you and see the beauty in the small things — a flower blooming in an unexpected place, the colour of a new leaf
de-stress yourself by emptying your mind of all the small pinpricks of daily living
discuss some important issues with your husband or friend, but don't bring up topics that will cause friction!
plan your day, week, month — things that you never find time for in the daily rush.
The pot of gold
It is not just living long that is important. It is ensuring a healthy life that makes you independent and empowers you. Walking is an important step in achieving this pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Sudha from Adyar writes: I put in at least 2 hours of physical work doing my housework. Does that not count as exercise?
Not really. The problem with housework is that though it may tire you out, it does not stretch and exercise all muscle groups in your body.
And since the work is mostly in spurts, the effect of exercise is not sustained. Exercise should also raise your pulse rate to be effective. You will be happy to know that brisk walking for 30 minutes, at least 4-5 times a week, is excellent exercise.
GITA ARJUN
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