Consumers Digest

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Summary: Walking It s good for everythingA simple brisk stroll has more benefits than you might think and it s an easier sell than the high velocity programs of the 70s By Regina Nuzzo Special to The TimesMarch 12 2007 But today a new easygoing message reigns Leave the spandex at home you don t have to sweat or even change your clothes Simply take a walk Aim for least 30 minutes of activity on most days of the week experts now advise Break it up into a few brisk walking snacks if you prefer Vigorous exercise is great they say but don t feel pressured What happened Did experts notice that we weren t living up to their high heart rate expectations and decide with resignation to lower the bar Or has the science of exercise evolved into something more subtle than say Richard Simmons shorts Yes and yes Public health officials are indeed desperate for us to get off our duffs and they prefer to set minimum guidelines that don t scare us off But too research over the last decade has shown that physical activity doesn t need to be vigorous to be beneficial Brisk walking can help prevent cardiovascular disease colon cancer osteoporosis and diabetes researchers believe A broader set of disorders breast cancer depression cognitive decline and sexual dysfunction to name a few might also be helped by regular strolls around the block Walking may be as close to a magic bullet as you ll find in modern medicine says Dr JoAnn Manson professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School If there was a pill that could lower the risk of chronic disease like walking does people would be clamoring for it Walking is the ultimate no fuss exercise You don t need special training or equipment though plenty of books and pedometer devices are available to help Walking can get you from point A to point B in an earth friendly non gas guzzling way It can be fine tuned to your own fitness needs suitable for just off the couch potatoes and adrenaline junkies alike And here s another big plus Walking is fun offering up an eye opening view of a world normally glimpsed only as a car window blur What better way to notice the smell of the first summer barbecues an old mural on the side of a hardware store a pair of dueling mockingbirds I have yet to walk where I haven t found even a little surprise says Steve Hughart president of the Sacramento Walking Sticks a walking club of the American Volkssport Assn There are just amazing things that you don t see when you re driving Walking s pathThe road to modern exercise science started in the 1950s when researchers found that London bus drivers who sat behind the wheel all day tended to suffer more heart attacks than their co workers who walked around the double deckers punching tickets Researchers also quickly homed in on a good laboratory measure of physical fitness the amount of oxygen a body was capable of delivering to muscles during all out physical exertion and they promoted vigorous exercise as the key to good health The American College of Sports Medicine s first exercise guidelines released in 1975 encouraged people to exercise long and often at 70 to 90 of maximum heart rate reserve For a rough approximation of the upper range subtract your age from 220 and multiply by 0 9 that s about 162 beats per minute for a 40 year old Ten years later only about 20 of Americans met these standards About 40 were still completely sedentary Then came a new era in exercise Evidence was amassing that less than punishing exercise had its health benefits too and not just for London bus employees On the heels of an American Heart Assn report acknowledging this fact in 1995 the American College of Sports Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control came up with a brand new exercise plan for Americans Accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity walking gardening golfing for example on most days of the week The U S Surgeon General the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization soon followed with similar guidelines Suddenly all this talk of maximum heart rate and vigorous exercise seemed so old fashioned The new buzz bite sized pieces of physical activity More and more reports showed up in scientific journals extolling the benefits of moderate exercise Brisk walking and similar activities previously shunned by many exercise gurus as too wimpy to do much good were linked in large long term studies to lowered risk for heart disease diabetes high blood pressure colon cancer osteoporosis anxiety and depression How hard people exercised seemed to be less important than how long they were active And it seemed you didn t even have to do all that exercise at the same time Intermittent activity was as beneficial as long bouts of exercise It was bit of a revolution in the world of physical activity says Steven Blair professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina and senior editor for the Surgeon General s report Today even more scientific evidence has stacked up including some gold standard randomized clinical trials showing the benefits of moderate exercise for other disorders including Alzheimer s disease stroke cognitive decline breast and prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction See related story Some of the studies conclusions are still surprising and also debated Not only is brisk walking better for your health than say dozing in front of the TV no argument there but apparently it s also nearly as good as spending that time joggingIn 2001 a Harvard study of 39 000 women published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn concluded that as little as one hour of brisk walking a week might cut women s risk of coronary heart disease in half The article s subtitle summed up a new attitude in exercise science Is No Pain No Gain Passe Chair addictionScience may not be the only factor behind these new recommendations Sneaky psychology may also be at play People have an aversion to exercise says Guy Le Masurier professor of physical education at Malaspina University in British Columbia Canada Even the promise of a finish line euphoria doesn t motivate us very well he says Most people don t get the runner s high because it s just too painful to get there Most don t even try According to national 2005 surveys by the Centers for Disease Control about 49 of Americans get the minimum current recommended moderate activity levels About 40 are completely sedentary during their free time A 2005 California health interview survey found that fewer than one quarter of Californians walk regularly About 30 never walk We can give recommendations that would make people very very healthy but they just wouldn t do it says David Bassett Jr professor of exercise sport and leisure studies at University of Tennessee If we recommend moderate activity it s much more palatable and more people will do it In any case from a public health point of view nonactive folks are the prize demographic Get them moving and you ll make a bigger dent in the nation s chronic disease rates than if you target folks who are already somewhat active Where we get our bang for the buck is getting sedentary people from doing nothing to doing a little bit from off the couch to walking says James Hill director of the center for human nutrition at University of Colorado For my money getting people to walk would be the single most important thing we can do to improve their health We weren t always so slothful Eighty years ago for example the typical commute to work in Rochester Minn was a 1 6 mile walk That s roughly 150 extra calories burned each day the equivalent of between 10 and 20 pounds of body weight each year Humans were designed to walk says Dr James Levine professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine We spent 7 million years of our history walking and now all of a sudden we re sitting down We re addicted to our chairs That is having profound effects on our health We balk at adding extra walking into our lives for predictable reasons In a recent study of undergraduates at UC Irvine common excuses were lack of time and inconvenient sidewalks says study coauthor Genevieve Dunton now a postdoctoral fellow at USC s Keck School of Medicine The next most significant cluster of excuses Not wanting to mess up nice clothes and hair But hairdo friendly walking can in fact be woven into one s daily schedule Levine says One of his favorite creative suggestions Transform your daily sit down meetings with the boss into strolling around the hall meetings Don t change clothes don t sweat just carry your clipboard and conduct the same meeting he says At a leisurely 1 5 mph an hour long meeting can burn 150 calories roughly the same benefits that last century s walk to workers enjoyed Levine himself works from a custom treadmill desk set for a constant 1 mph Telephone conversations reading computer work All are performed in the office while enjoying an easy saunter It simply takes creativity to see the opportunities to build walking into the day and reap the health benefits he says Burning off pounds is one big way that walking helps a person s health especially when it comes to warding off diabetes and other diseases for which obesity is a risk factor But it s not the only way Walking enhances blood circulation It can lower blood pressure and improve blood cholesterol important for warding off heart disease It enhances the body s handling of glucose good for diabetes control alters hormone levels which play a part in breast and prostate cancer boosts bone mineral density important in osteoporosis prevention reduces inflammation and clotting related to stroke and enhances the brain s neurotransmitters good for anything invol Walking It s good for everythingA simple brisk stroll has more benefits than you might think and it s an easier sell than the high velocity programs of the 70s By Regina Nuzzo Special to The TimesMarch 12 2007 But today a new easygoing message reigns Leave the spandex at home you don t have to sweat or even change your clothes Simply take a walk Aim for least 30 minutes of activity on most days of the week experts now advise Break it up into a few brisk walking snacks if you prefer Vigorous exercise is great they say but don t feel pressured What happened Did experts notice that we weren t living up to their high heart rate expectations and decide with resignation to lower the bar Or has the science of exercise evolved into something more subtle than say Richard Simmons shorts Yes and yes Public health officials are indeed desperate for us to get off our duffs and they prefer to set minimum guidelines that don t scare us off But too research over the last decade has shown that physical activity doesn t need to be vigorous to be beneficial Brisk walking can help prevent cardiovascular disease colon cancer osteoporosis and diabetes researchers believe A broader set of disorders breast cancer depression cognitive decline and sexual dysfunction to name a few might also be helped by regular strolls around the block Walking may be as close to a magic bullet as you ll find in modern medicine says Dr JoAnn Manson professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School If there was a pill that could lower the risk of chronic disease like walking does people would be clamoring for it Walking is the ultimate no fuss exercise You don t need special training or equipment though plenty of books and pedometer devices are available to help Walking can get you from point A to point B in an earth friendly non gas guzzling way It can be fine tuned to your own fitness needs suitable for just off the couch potatoes and adrenaline junkies alike And here s another big plus Walking is fun offering up an eye opening view of a world normally glimpsed only as a car window blur What better way to notice the smell of the first summer barbecues an old mural on the side of a hardware store a pair of dueling mockingbirds I have yet to walk where I haven t found even a little surprise says Steve Hughart president of the Sacramento Walking Sticks a walking club of the American Volkssport Assn There are just amazing things that you don t see when you re driving Walking s pathThe road to modern exercise science started in the 1950s when researchers found that London bus drivers who sat behind the wheel all day tended to suffer more heart attacks than their co workers who walked around the double deckers punching tickets Researchers also quickly homed in on a good laboratory measure of physical fitness the amount of oxygen a body was capable of delivering to muscles during all out physical exertion and they promoted vigorous exercise as the key to good health The American College of Sports Medicine s first exercise guidelines released in 1975 encouraged people to exercise long and often at 70 to 90 of maximum heart rate reserve For a rough approximation of the upper range subtract your age from 220 and multiply by 0 9 that s about 162 beats per minute for a 40 year old Ten years later only about 20 of Americans met these standards About 40 were still completely sedentary Then came a new era in exercise Evidence was amassing that less than punishing exercise had its health benefits too and not just for London bus employees On the heels of an American Heart Assn report acknowledging this fact in 1995 the American College of Sports Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control came up with a brand new exercise plan for Americans Accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity walking gardening golfing for example on most days of the week The U S Surgeon General the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization soon followed with similar guidelines Suddenly all this talk of maximum heart rate and vigorous exercise seemed so old fashioned The new buzz bite sized pieces of physical activity More and more reports showed up in scientific journals extolling the benefits of moderate exercise Brisk walking and similar activities previously shunned by many exercise gurus as too wimpy to do much good were linked in large long term studies to lowered risk for heart disease diabetes high blood pressure colon cancer osteoporosis anxiety and depression How hard people exercised seemed to be less important than how long they were active And it seemed you didn t even have to do all that exercise at the same time Intermittent activity was as beneficial as long bouts of exercise It was bit of a revolution in the world of physical activity says Steven Blair professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina and senior editor for the Surgeon General s report Today even more scientific evidence has stacked up including some gold standard randomized clinical trials showing the benefits of moderate exercise for other disorders including Alzheimer s disease stroke cognitive decline breast and prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction See related story Some of the studies conclusions are still surprising and also debated Not only is brisk walking better for your health than say dozing in front of the TV no argument there but apparently it s also nearly as good as spending that time joggingIn 2001 a Harvard study of 39 000 women published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn concluded that as little as one hour of brisk walking a week might cut women s risk of coronary heart disease in half The article s subtitle summed up a new attitude in exercise science Is No Pain No Gain Passe Chair addictionScience may not be the only factor behind these new recommendations Sneaky psychology may also be at play People have an aversion to exercise says Guy Le Masurier professor of physical education at Malaspina University in British Columbia Canada Even the promise of a finish line euphoria doesn t motivate us very well he says Most people don t get the runner s high because it s just too painful to get there Most don t even try According to national 2005 surveys by the Centers for Disease Control about 49 of Americans get the minimum current recommended moderate activity levels About 40 are completely sedentary during their free time A 2005 California health interview survey found that fewer than one quarter of Californians walk regularly About 30 never walk We can give recommendations that would make people very very healthy but they just wouldn t do it says David Bassett Jr professor of exercise sport and leisure studies at University of Tennessee If we recommend moderate activity it s much more palatable and more people will do it In any case from a public health point of view nonactive folks are the prize demographic Get them moving and you ll make a bigger dent in the nation s chronic disease rates than if you target folks who are already somewhat active Where we get our bang for the buck is getting sedentary people from doing nothing to doing a little bit from off the couch to walking says James Hill director of the center for human nutrition at University of Colorado For my money getting people to walk would be the single most important thing we can do to improve their health We weren t always so slothful Eighty years ago for example the typical commute to work in Rochester Minn was a 1 6 mile walk That s roughly 150 extra calories burned each day the equivalent of between 10 and 20 pounds of body weight each year Humans were designed to walk says Dr James Levine professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine We spent 7 million years of our history walking and now all of a sudden we re sitting down We re addicted to our chairs That is having profound effects on our health We balk at adding extra walking into our lives for predictable reasons In a recent study of undergraduates at UC Irvine common excuses were lack of time and inconvenient sidewalks says study coauthor Genevieve Dunton now a postdoctoral fellow at USC s Keck School of Medicine The next most significant cluster of excuses Not wanting to mess up nice clothes and hair But hairdo friendly walking can in fact be woven into one s daily schedule Levine says One of his favorite creative suggestions Transform your daily sit down meetings with the boss into strolling around the hall meetings Don t change clothes don t sweat just carry your clipboard and conduct the same meeting he says At a leisurely 1 5 mph an hour long meeting can burn 150 calories roughly the same benefits that last century s walk to workers enjoyed Levine himself works from a custom treadmill desk set for a constant 1 mph Telephone conversations reading computer work All are performed in the office while enjoying an easy saunter It simply takes creativity to see the opportunities to build walking into the day and reap the health benefits he says Burning off pounds is one big way that walking helps a person s health especially when it comes to warding off diabetes and other diseases for which obesity is a risk factor But it s not the only way Walking enhances blood circulation It can lower blood pressure and improve blood cholesterol important for warding off heart disease It enhances the body s handling of glucose good for diabetes control alters hormone levels which play a part in breast and prostate cancer boosts bone mineral density important in osteoporosis prevention reduces inflammation and clotting related to stroke and enhances the brain s neurotransmitters good for anything invol

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