6 Science Backed Health Benefits of Walking for Seniors
Walking is a great way to get exercise and it offers a wide variety of health benefits. It’s easy to do, costs nothing other than time, and is guaranteed to improve your health.
1) Walking Improves Cardiovascular Health
Walking can be as effective as running. Walking is a great way for men and women to lower blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, risk of stroke, and more. Exercise is a great way to take care of your health. [1]
2) Lower Risk of Elderly Disability
Regular exercise can stave off elderly disability due to muscle loss and mobility issues. This can keep seniors in their home for longer and stave off the need for round the clock care. A study in 2008 from the University of Georgia found that regular walking reduced risk of developing a physical disability by 41% in those 65 plus. [2]
3) Prevent or Lower Risk of Arthritis
Walking can help lubricate knee and hip joints and reduce the inflammation caused by arthritis. Walking also strengthening surrounding musculature which can stabilize the knee. This reduces the risk of injury. [3]
4) Improve Brain Health
Walking can increase your proprioception. Proprioception is our awareness of where our body is in space. So regular walking helps you know where your body is, whether or not you are upright, and can prevent falls.
Studies are also showing that exercise such as walking can boost your memory! When we exercise our body releases endorphins and growth factor. This allows our brain to make new connections and even increase brain volume over time. [4]
Walking can also reduce stress, boost our mood, and help us get a better nights sleep.
5) Boost Your Immune System
Regular walking can enhance vaccination response, boost different types of white blood cell production, and can decrease inflammation response. All of this combined can then lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s. [5]
6) Add Years to Your Life
Because of the many benefits that walking has, it can increase your life span by 7 years! Also those who walked more had less medical expenses over their lifetime than their counterparts that didn’t walk at all. [6]
Conclusion
Walking is a great exercise for seniors because it is low impact and can improve their health. If you are out of practice or afraid to walk, we offer supervised 30 min walks and you can reach out to us here. Otherwise we recommend you start off slow and for only 10 minutes at a time. Slowly build up your pace and the amount of time walking, and reap the benefits.