{"id":1716,"date":"2010-10-28T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2010-10-28T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthnews.nchealthplans.com\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2011-10-29T08:03:20","modified_gmt":"2011-10-29T13:03:20","slug":"why-walking-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/2010\/10\/why-walking-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Walking Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>What does the Surgeon General have to say about regular physical activity? A lot. The list of ways it improves health is too long to list here, but it\u2019s hard to name a health risk that exercise doesn\u2019t mitigate in some way.<\/p>\n

According to the nation\u2019s chief medical officer, men and women of all ages can derive great benefits from 30 minutes a day of \u201cmoderate activity.\u201d Walking falls squarely in that category. Even people who have been completely sedentary can start with 10-minute walks and build up gradually to the recommended 30 minutes a day.<\/p>\n

Of course, anyone with a chronic health problem or an identified risk for one should talk with a doctor before starting any program of exercise. So should men over age 40 and women over age 50.<\/p>\n

Walking might not seem like \u201creal\u201d exercise alongside intense activities like biking, running or swimming. But researchers have found that if people stick with it and make walking part of a regular routine, it leads to aerobic fitness and body fat reduction, whether it\u2019s in long periods or multiple short ones. And reducing body fat means reducing your risk of heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure) and anxiety.<\/p>\n

One study found that when given a choice, sedentary adults were comfortable walking about 11 miles a week. They were able to vary the intensity and length of their walking sessions to suit their daily schedules. So your workforce doesn\u2019t have to be burdened by the \u201cnot enough time\u201d excuse any longer. But be aware that in another study, walks of less than 10 continuous minutes didn\u2019t provide the same health benefits. The necessary participation has a low minimum, but it does have one.<\/p>\n

Even people who improve health for a living have something to learn. An eight-year study of thousands of female nurses found that brisk walking three or more hours per week lowered women\u2019s risk for coronary heart disease.<\/p>\n

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com<\/a>\u00a0or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak to one of our qualified agents.\u00a0 Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC).\u00a0 You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health.\u00a0 Call us for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does the Surgeon General have to say about regular physical activity? A lot. The list of ways it improves health is too long to list here, but it\u2019s hard to name a health risk that exercise doesn\u2019t mitigate in some way. According to the nation\u2019s chief medical officer, men and women of all ages […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[23,152,811,364,201],"class_list":["post-1716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness","tag-bcbsnc","tag-blue-cross-blue-shield-of-nc","tag-fitness","tag-improving-health","tag-walking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1716"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3838,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1716\/revisions\/3838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}