The Benefits Of “power Walking ” For Mental Health
“Power walking” is a good alternative to start with moderate exercise. It not only helps us stay in shape, but also allows us to disconnect from our problems and clouds of anxiety. This promotes good health.
Power walking is walking at a constant fast pace while swinging with your arms and taking big steps. You have to follow certain guidelines regarding intensity, posture, changes in rhythm and training length to get the most out of it.
This can be a perfect tool for the mind as it comes with psychological benefits, just like with regular walks. The difference here is that you also get an excellent cardiovascular workout.
To stay healthy, the World Health Organization recommends that adults walk at least 10,000 steps a day, or the equivalent of seven kilometers. At first glance, this may seem simple, but in reality it may be different. Either way, power walking will let you follow this recommendation.
This form of exercise can improve your life in many ways. In the following article, we want to discuss the most prominent psychological benefits of this practice.
Power walking helps reduce stress and daily clouds of anxiety as it helps you relax from these problems and redirect your focus to maintaining good concentration levels.
Therefore, it is an effective way to let us earmark time for ourselves and let go of anxiety. Serotonin and endorphins are released from the brain when we exercise, which results in a calmer state of mind. By avoiding the hectic pace of the office when we walk, we also get better motivation.
Like other sports, power walking also improves our cognitive function, especially the pace at which we process information and react.
Walking helps us to be more creative. It is actually a perfect exercise to generate new ideas when our body relaxes, clouds of anxiety are pushed aside and ideas flow. We only need ten minutes to notice its effects!
A study conducted by experts at Stanford University and the University of Santa Clara in the United States has shown that we are much more creative when we walk than when we sit.
Furthermore, American researchers have shown that walking significantly stimulates creativity.
Power walking helps us to enjoy our own company, in addition to improving our self-esteem. Psychologist Maria Teresa Rubio says, “Self-esteem is the ability to overcome obstacles and achieve goals, and power walking can be a great way to develop these aspects of our behavior.”
Walking also promotes the management of our emotions because we can listen to ourselves or adopt a different view of what is happening to us.
Power walking can even help us sleep better. Max Hirshkowitx – Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Baylor University – says that 75% of all people who engage in physical activity on a regular basis sleep better.
Finally, we recommend power walking for people who like to walk and who want to increase the walking pace because it comes with many psychological and physical benefits. So what are you waiting for?
