While it’s true that there are more ways to be physically active than you can poke a golf club at, walking has a lot going for it. For starters, it’s free, it doesn’t require any fancy equipment, and you can do it anywhere and anytime – like during your lunchbreak.
That’s exactly when Trish Lee, Content Producer in Chisholm’s marketing department, goes for a walk at least four days a week.
Making it work by keeping a pair of walking shoes stashed under her desk, Trish simply pulls them on when lunchtime rolls around and heads in one direction for 15 minutes, before turning back towards the Dandenong campus, often accompanied by a workmate. Even when she’s working from home, Trish keeps it up by taking lunchtime walks around the block.
“After working inside all morning, it’s great to get into the fresh air and to get the blood circulating,” says Trish. “Plus it gives my brain a bit of a break.”
Here are five other reasons to go for a 30-minute walk every day.
1. It’s good for your heart
As good as running, in fact. That’s according to a US study, which found that regular walkers experienced roughly the same reduction in risk for things like high blood pressure and cholesterol levels as runners, when the same distances were covered.
2. You’ll have better focus and more energy
“I always find that my energy levels improve after my lunchtime walk, and that I have a better attention span and greater focus for the afternoon,” says Trish. Research backs her up, with a 2018 study confirming that people who went for a short 15-minute walk during their lunchbreak enjoyed better concentration and lower levels of fatigue for the rest of the day.
3. Your brain will benefit
Just by going for a walk every day you’re doing something good for your grey matter. Research shows walking enhances connectivity of important brain networks and circuits to improve performance on cognitive tasks and combat age-related brain-function decline.
4. It adds to your daily step count
The jury is still out on the ‘magic’ number of daily steps we need to take for good health, but research does confirm that more is better. In fact, two recent studies found that people who dropped their daily step count from between 8000 and 10,000 to below 2000 experienced deterioration in important health markers, after just two weeks.
5. You’ll feel happier
Exercising regularly has been linked to better mental health for some time, but it was recently discovered that even a single bout of brisk walking boosts mood – another side effect Trish is familiar with. “I always feel so much happier after I’ve been for a walk,” she says.
