A Walk to Your Health

By Ken Bendor

You can reap some benefits of exercise without joining a gym or running for miles a day. Not to say that doing so is a bad idea but altering your lifestyle to include more activity with your daily tasks offers you convenience and can help you reach the recommended amount of physical activity each day.

A few years ago, the Surgeon General released a report about the obesity epidemic facing this country. The report recommended that everyone get some physical activity in their day to prevent and treat disorders related to obesity. There are plenty of ways to get your physical activity in each day without joining a gym.

In this country, owning a car is a need to us. We use them for movies, grocery shopping and even going to a gym to run on a treadmill. With energy prices and obesity soaring, we don’t need any more reasons to drive less.

It isn’t realistic to hope that everyone is going to drop their keys and use a bike to get everywhere. What we can do is drive less and bike, walk or run more. Sometimes we drive to the store and only get a few things. Instead of driving, bike there and use a backpack to carry everything. It will save the environment, money (from gas) and time since you won’t have to exercise as much later.

Even when we do need to drive somewhere, there are steps you can take. Park further and walk. You’ll again save time since you won’t be looking for a spot. Once you get in the building, use the stairs. If you don’t want to climb all flights, climb half or a fourth. Anything is better than nothing.

The Surgeon General Report recommended everyone get 10,000 steps in per day which is equivalent to about five miles. While it sounds like a lot, if you make an effort not to take every shortcut, you’ll reach the 10,000 steps quickly. Using a pedometer can help you count how many steps you take each day.

Adding more activity in your day will help the environment, save you money and most importantly, make you healthier. For such a small commitment it pays out huge dividends.

Ken Bendor is a Senior at Florida State University studying Exercise Science and Dietetics. He started Straight Health to try and spread easy to understand and accurate information on health and fitness.

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