Walks and Walking: An ideal exercise for graceful aging and keeping the nursing home at bay.

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Walks and Walking

Aging and the Role of Walking
The Walking Web

By DH Owens

Walking: If you have not exercised recently, walking can ease you into a more active lifestyle. It may even seem to slow down the aging process.

More information about walking and walks for fitness: 

Walking is low impact, with a low risk of sprain. It is simple to do and is the least expensive aerobic exercise.

This makes walking an ideal exercise for graceful aging. 

If you have not exercised recently, walking can ease you into an active lifestyle. 

Establish a Walking Routine

Pick a convenient time of day , even breaking up the designated walking time into two or three sessions per day if you need this. 

In the beginning, try to choose a location that involves laps so you do not walk far from your destination in the event of fatigue. A mall, high school track, or your own block will work.

Plan a five minute warm up and cool down with a bit faster walking in between. 

Establish a routine that has importance in your day so you will keep your walking date. It is always a good idea to end with stretching. 

Repeat your routine 3-to-5 days a week.

Add Walking to Daily Life

Walking  can be done while shopping, strolling a grandkid, or visiting a neighbor. One older friend of mine is  in the habit of leaving the car at the far end of the parking lot each time she shops or walking around the block when she takes out the garbage. It all adds up.

Walking Keeps the Nursing Home at Bay

Walking also helps keep the nursing home at bay as we age.

Why?

Understanding aging requires us to shift focus from life-threatening chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, to including such things as osteoporosis and arthritis--which certainly affect the quality of our life as we age.  

As long ago as 1987, a study by Wingard, Jones, and Kaplan, published in Gerontologist, found that a person's ability to function--manual dexterity, grip strength, walking skill, predicted the chance of imminent or eventual nursing-home placement better than traditional medical tests and examinations. 

Walking and Graceful Aging

Our body gives subtle signs of aging early on. Flexibility begins to decline in our 20s. Muscle strength begins to decline in our early 40s. We may have trouble balancing. Walking helps with muscle strength, flexibility, and balance. It adds to our graceful aging. 

Walking for fitness:

Walking may even seem to slow down the aging process.

Walk on...

Additional information about walks and walking.

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