Many people say, “more walking every day helps us stay healthy.” So what are the health benefits walking can bring?

Walking itself is a good exercise if we do it for a certain length of time, for example, a regular brisk walking session of 15 to 20 minutes has been proved for its long-term benefits.

It not only burns calories to help maintain a healthy body weight, but also reduces blood fat like cholesterol and even lowers the risk of urban diseases such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.

In addition, it improves cardio-respiratory fitness and helps build up and maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints. Thus, the saying “more walking every day helps us stay healthy” does carry its own merits.

How much walking is adequate?

To talk about how much walking is adequate, we would naturally think of our mobile phone. Today, the pedometer transforms itself from a gadget around our waists into part of every smartphone and wearable device.

It not only counts the number of steps but also remind us to be perseverant, and it also tracks our hard work achieved in a specific period of time. It can even connect you with your friends to create a competition amongst your circle to see who walks more and forms a positive encouragement.

“10,000 steps a day” hints at more exercise

It’s difficult to draw a line at a certain number of steps all of us should walk every day for the purpose of achieving well-being. After all, the extent of fat burning or cardio-respiratory effect of exercise varies from person to person. While the pedometer counts the number of steps one has walked, it doesn’t increase the amount of exercise that one may have.

However, it is good to have a goal! Such as a well-known saying of “walking 10,000 steps a day” –stemmed from a marketing gimmick back at the time of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 – seems to help set up a daily goal. That turns into an effective implication for users to exercise more. Thus to a certain extent, “walking 10,000 steps a day” is quite conducive to health, whether psychologically or physiologically.

Some insurers would raise health awareness of their customers and encourage a healthy living by offering premium discounts to those who persist in walking regularly. If you want to build a workout routine but don’t know how, begin today with walking!