Walking or running which is actually better?

People often are found choosing between the two exercises, one a more fast paced often quicker exercise the other a slower more sedate paced exercise.

Walking is Superior

Walking surpasses running by far, despite it being less strenuous, its benefits arguably exceed that of running. Both obviously are much more healthier then standing still or laying down and provide immense health benefits to those who do it regularly.

Although runners are shown to have reduced risk of heart disease, walkers have shown a much larger risk reduction rate of likeliness to attract heart disease of almost double that of runners. So Interestingly enough the health benefits are greater than that of running, at least for ones heart.

Injury levels are much lower when walking as it is a low impact exercise. Where running actually risks a person more injuries, as it is a medium-to high impact exercise. Running ius more likely to result in muscle strains, ankle injuries and even fall impact damage.

Walking is simple and much easier to do, people feel less self conscious wen walking down a busy street then they do running. It is truly the superior lazy type of exercise!

Who Walks?

Often you find that those who begin walking are those more unhealthier people, which allows for much greater changes in their lives then those who run. Runners tend to already be fairly healthy and this leads to only small changes to their overall health compared to walkers. 

It tends to be more of an older persons exercise, from what I have observed the serious walkers tend to be those who are older. However this doesn't make walking an exercise for only older people, in fact lots of people do it in the simplest ways. Walking down to the shops, to the bus stop, visiting a nearby friend or family member. Though these people do it less seriously they are still walking when they can.

This is the brilliance behind walking, you can do it anywhere, well almost anywhere. Running can be more embarrassing in public which creates a certain disincentive to even try it. Walking is easier and more acceptable in a persons own eyes due to it being considered more normal. 

This is why walking will always be superior to running, the health benefits and the social stigma of the exercises.

External Links: 

http://health.ninemsn.com.au/whatsgoodforyou/theshow/694482/walking-versus-running-151-whats-better

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/is-it-better-to-walk-or-run/

Mental Health Improved Through Simple Body Actions

Ever noticed people who are slouching while they walk seem much more unhappier then those who walk upright? 

Studies have discovered that people can have a more happy disposition simply by moving to a more upright posture. This originated from San Francisco State University researchers who looked at how happy people were after slouching and skipping.

Slouching in Society 

Arguably, people seem to be slouching a lot more today then ever before. This I believe can be attributed to the level of comfort now available and our overall laziness today. Even now I am writing this from the comfort of my couch, legs kicked up slouching comfortably on this beautiful feeling couch.

Keeping an eye out during the week I have spotted a rare few who sat or walked in a more upright position then others. From my experience the majority of these tended to be older females as well as those of ethnic descent.

This may be because they grew up with an emphasis on the important of posture (Possibly not in the sense that it makes you happy but because it is expected by society).

Maybe today people are more unhappy with their lives because they slouch more, we are seeing more people diagnosed with depression every day. Can we not combat depression by sitting and walking more upright? I say why not, simple small changes everyday could vastly improves someone disposition and mental health.


Improve your Health!!

Running a few simple tests on myself I have noted some additional benefits to not slouching.

1. Your mind becomes more active and productive

My usual posture of slouching down saw my production towards finishing an assignment or even writing up a blog post as very slow going. I would frequently get side tracked by social media, games, videos the whole lot.
However while sitting more upright I become a lot more focused and productive. Getting a lot more done and arguably even having it of a higher quality then normal.

2. Feels good on the body.

Shoulders back seems to stretch out my usual slouched back, which feels amazing in itself. Physically it feels great and mentally I am believing that it is good for my back, posture and now even my overall positive disposition towards the day.

3. Become a lot more approachable

With crossed arms body slouched I must appear more of a closed off person and difficult for people to talk too. Whereas this openness of good posture and an open body language seems to get more people friends and even those I have never met before alike to socialize more with me.



Comment on your own observations, whether it be yourself or others who appear to have or bad posture and their overall attitude. Do we think that people are actually more lazier today which has resulted in more slouching and closed off body language?

Related External Links: http://health.ninemsn.com.au/family/familyhealth/8559355/change-how-you-sit-to-feel-happy
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2228003/Sit-cheer-Slouching-making-sad-study-shows.html

Walking to Live Forever

"Walking just 15 minutes a day can extend your life by as much as 3 years." BUPA

Okay so you probably won't live forever by simply walking every day, but it could extend your life. This seems like a pretty big statement to make however there is some connections that can be made.

I can list the health benefits that are linked with this but that is something I'm sure most people are somewhat already aware of. I would instead like to pose a question, Would you walk 15 minutes a day if you knew for certain 3 years would be added to your life?

For me I don't think I would and I feel others are the same. What is another 3 years to someones life?

Sure I feel like this now with a full life ahead of me but ask me again in 30 or 40 years and I may feel different. Then its a trade off of sorts, as we don't wanna walk now because we see no or little health problems while younger but as we age we can feel the effects of ageing.

So do we walk now to better our health for the future or not worry about it till we hit that age when it may be too late?

Make Walking Fun

I came across this video a university lecturer shared with me

I think it is an amazing creative concept to get people using the stairs more often. Today we see stairs next to escalators leaving the consumer two choices the easier choice (escalators) is almost always chose. The reason behind this is simple, both get a person to a destination but one provides less effort and is a lot quicker at getting there. Ask yourself seriously what would you chose?

In buildings today we even see when entering elevators situated right in front of us. The stairs are tucked away at the back of the building and are often ugly concrete type things in comparison to well designed colourful elevators. This is an issue in buildings today, something needs to change in the design of these buildings in order to help promote walking and stair use.

This play theory is one example, obviously not applicable everywhere but simply making the stairs more accessible and colourful could increase the amount of people using it. Anyone else noticed where they work or just in large office buildings how stairs are often tucked away around the back, or even only included for fire escape purposes?