Posted on 08/14/2007 7:33:51 PM PDT by blam
Three walks a week 'cuts heart risk'
By Nic Fleming, Medical Correspondent
Last Updated: 1:26am BST 15/08/2007
Walking for just 30 minutes three times a week can lower blood pressure and heart disease risk, scientists say.
Guidelines from the Chief Medical Officer suggest adults do moderately intense exercise five times a week.
However, researchers found that those who take three brisk walks a week had reduced waist and hip circumference and lower blood pressure.
The authors of the study, published yesterday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said their findings could help those with sedentary lifestyles take up exercise gradually.
The lead author, Dr Mark Tully of Queen's University, Belfast, said: "The results may encourage people who feel they do not have time to exercise on five days each week." The researchers split 106 civil servants who did hardly any exercise into three groups.
One group did 30-minute walks five days a week, another three days a week, and the rest did none.
Both walking groups saw reductions in blood pressure and measurements - shown to reduce heart attack or stroke risks. There were no changes in the non-walking group.
In other, more shocking news, Franco is still dead.
It is also not just those with sedentary lifestyles that have heart attacks. For some a walk would be a vacation.
Funny you should post this article as I am watching a tivoed lecture by a cardiologist on UCTV, who recommends 10,000 steps per day. The dude actually wears a pedometer to monitor his own daily progress and suggests this to his patients as well. Good program.
10,000 steps a day is about 5 miles for the average person....I’ve worn a pedometer - it’s amazing how much I would walk in my own home! But, then, there are others like my SIL who probably doesn’t even walk a mile a day - and it shows.....5’ tall, about 220lbs
I like walking better than running and so do my joints. And my old dogs.
Can't do it anywhere else but outside and if you keep up a good pace, most actual or potential complainers are left in the dust (smoke). Tee Hee!
Didn't he take 3 walks a week?
*Bump* !
The sound of ex-Texan falling down?
In my old neighborhood I would often walk 3 miles round trip to pick up a to go pack of barbeque. I would stop at a liquor store on the way back to pick up a bottle of red wine to counteract the cholesterol. Figured I came out health neutral.
I try to keep up a good pace. People in front of me look blue, and people behind me look red.
Following a triple-bypass in 1983 at age 40, I took up running. I ran/jogged almost every day for 16 years. In 1999, my joints hurt so much, I quit jogging and started walking five-six miles a day. Now, at age 65, I SHOULD weigh about 150 on a 5’9” frame but I have to struggle to keep it under 200. Blood pressure, with medication, is about 125/80; cholestorol/LDL/triglycerides are all OK, also with medication. I haven’t smoked in 32 years.
I agree. Remember, you can have anything you want, just not everything you want. Moderation is the key. I have ice-cream once a week, not every day. If I go out to dinner and want dessert, I skip the bread and anything carb laden in the entree. I’ve done some form of exercise every day for the last 31 years (since I was 25) and it shows but you have to make the effort - 30 minutes a day is all it takes.
Did you have the joint pain prior to taking anti cholosterol drugs? If so, I suggest you read up on “red yeast rice”. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/red-yeast-rice/NS_patient-redyeast
How brisk do they want? Personally, I walk (or jog in the pool) for an hour every other day. I do it to burn off blood sugar because I am Type II diabetic. The first 15 minutes of exercise don’t help you burn glucose so I took the suggestion of exercising 30 minutes a day and realized I’d get more benefit exercising 60 minutes every other day.
I've known a number of people who stated running programs and had to stop because of joint problems. I think the problem seems to afflict males who view walking as not as macho as running. Unfortunately many of them choose to run on city sidewalks or streets which aggravates the pounding their joints take. I walk for exercise and avoid the pounding.
I have ice cream almost everyday, just not very much. Dove minatures only have 60 calories per bar. I have the will power to eat only one.
But I struggle to keep weight below 200 so I am supplementing that with a rowing machine 30 minutes a day for a more cardiovascular workout at higher heart rates.
Still it takes two days of strenuous routine just to lose just one pound of fat !! That's why exercise regimens are seldom followed.
BUMP
I saw Bruce Jenner on TV a while back...he said that people should quit running after the age of 40...he says all you are going to do is destroy your feet and knees...walking and riding a bike is what he suggests...i prefer ultra light backpacking myself...got a section hike planned for the Appalachian Trail this fall....as of this week i have taken a break from my training routine...tooo darn HOT!
That may be true but in my case I found walking so boring that when I quit running I wouldn't do it.
But then I started playing golf and found that walking with a purpose, even if was hitting a ball with a stick, wasn't nearly so bad.
Just an idea for others that might be in the same non-walking mode.
LOL!
So does getting laid three or more times a week. That’s a tough decision. ;-)
That's why God made MP3 players. You can listen to books, music, sermons, etc. I listen to a sermon a day during my walk.
Do what you like. But one of the reasons I walk is not just for the fact that I believe that unless a person is ALREADY!!! in shape, they shouldn't be running. I think that when overweight people start running they do double damage by making their heart work a lot harder as well as putting excessive stress on their joints and tendons. But I also enjoy walking a lot more than when I used to run. I walk in state parks where I can also observe nature and climb hills if I choose.
I believe the average out of shape person will realize far greater benefits and a lot less damage to their body by brisk walking rather than running. But each to their own.
Let’s walk more.
Today?
Maybe. Call me later.
I would recommend that you start it up again. It would make the rest of your life so much more enjoyable, and might help out with that pesky weight and cholesterol problem.
Worked for my dear old Dad (1927-2007, started smoking at age 9)
Just don't go into any medical facilities unless you have to do so.
There are sick people in there that can transmit all kinds of crap to you and do you in.
Great looking elk, BTW. The wife and I spent a week in the back country in Idaho last June and saw a bunch of them. Noble beasts.
I had been taking cholestorol-lowering drugs for a few years before my problems with the lower extremeties set in. My podiatrist said he’d shoot me if I went back to jogging.
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