For the millions and millions and millions of you who –
like me – can’t stand running or jogging or whatever that mode of exercise is
called, the good news is that a study in the journal Arteriosclerosis,
Thrombosis and Vascular Biology has concluded that walking is every bit as
good for all intents and purposes given that the major two intents of any
exercise regime - or even any extra effort at all – are of course to live
longer and in better health.
In this study that analyzed data from 33,060 runners in
the National Runners’ Health Study and 15,045 walkers in the National Walkers’
Health Study concluded that over the period of 6 years, brisk walkers were as
able to lower their cholesterol levels, lower their blood pressure levels, and
improve bother their diabetes coronary heart disease risk profiles as much
as the runners were.
This was true only so long, of course, as the walkers
walked briskly, not at an ambling, gee-
is-that-a-flower-bed-ver-there-that-I-should go-and-smell pace?
In fact, the dirty little secret is that the walkers did
even better than the runners if the walkers spent as much time walking as the
runners spent running.
Walking is the sport: it’s cheap, easy to do anywhere even
inside, much more sociable than running, and much less likely to lead to
injury.
Now, go take a hike, OK?
