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The new Pokémon Go craze seemed a little, well… crazy. Was it really, though?
Sure, like any technology they have bugs they need to work out, but how awesome is it to have something that is fairly benign providing a way for kids (and adults) to get out and MOVE?
Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple, was known for his walking meetings. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has also been seen holding meetings on foot.
A new study by Stanford researchers provides an explanation for this.
Creative thinking improves while a person is walking and shortly thereafter, according to a study co-authored by Marily Oppezzo, a Stanford doctoral graduate in educational psychology, and Daniel Schwartz, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education.
How walking has positive health benefits too
The cardiovascular benefits of walking are biologically plausible; like other forms of regular moderate exercise, walking improves cardiac risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, vascular stiffness and inflammation, and mental stress.
According to a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Clinical Epidemiology, replacing half an hour’s sedentariness a day with everyday activity reduces the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease by 24 percent.
And if cardiac protection and a lower death rate are not enough to get you moving, consider that walking and other moderate exercise programs also help protect against dementia, peripheral artery disease, obesity, diabetes, depression, colon cancer, and even erectile dysfunction.
Here are a few tips to start walking daily:
- Keep a comfortable pair of athletic shoes at your desk at work. Throw them on during breaks and take a quick stroll around your building or block.
- Carry water with you. Even if you’re not trekking into the wilderness, it encourages you to stay adequately hydrated.
- Keep track of your walking. It’s great incentive to get out there and move when you can see the steps and distance really racking up. Use an old-fashioned pedometer or go with one of the newer fitness trackers to help keep you moving forward.
- Set goals. Whether it’s distance walked during a week’s time or a certain amount of weight you’d like to lose, keep moving towards those milestones and rewarding yourself at regular intervals.
Ready, set, walk.
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Previously published on Medium.
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Photo: Pexels
