Walking May Help You Live Longer

It is thought that about seven years could be added to your life if you just do 25 minutes a day of brisk walking. At the European Society of Cardiology Congress researchers claimed that regular exercise could reduce ageing and increase your average life span. Sanjay Sharma professor of inherited cardiac diseases at St. George’s University hospitals trust in south London, said that people in their 50s and 60s could reduce their risk of dying from a heart attack by half by doing moderate exercise. He went on to say that if you exercise regularly then you may be able to slow down the process of ageing. You can’t avoid getting older but you may delay it and you may look younger when you are seventy and exercise may help you to live into your nineties.
Exercise is an anti-depressant, it improves cognition and there is evidence emerging that it may delay the onset of dementia. He went on to add that exercise can benefit any one no matter what age they are. He recommended approximately 25 minutes a day. If you have time then walk to where you have to go and miss out or shorten that bus journey. I also recommend standing if you decide to travel by bus or tube. 
People with a heart condition shouldn’t run, but can walk briskly up to the point where they can still speak but are aware that their breathing has changed to the start of becoming breathless. As a lot of the things we do are sedentary these simple ideas for exercise will make a lot of difference. The research showed that aerobic exercise i.e. exercise where you can still breathe without getting breathless and strength training have a positive impact on ageing.
Christi Deaton of the University of Cambridge school of clinical medicine thought the study brought more understanding of physical activity and its good effects. It gives understanding of the process of cellular ageing as that is what drives our organ system and body ageing. 
Walking has been found to be one of the best workouts. Anyone can do it at any age and at any fitness level. It’s good for your heart, lungs, legs, posture and your mind.
It has been found that walking can be more effective than running. Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, found that brisk walking reduces the risk of heart disease more effectively than running. They observed participants aged between 18 and 80 over a six week period and found that walking reduced the risk of heart disease by 9.3%, while running reduced it by 4.5%. Running also puts a great strain on your joints particularly when running on a hard surface.
The Ramblers association and Macmillan Cancer support have issued a report called “Walking Works” and they list some of the benefits of walking. They estimated that regular walking for 150 minutes a week could save 37,000 lives per year and may lead to nearly 300,000 fewer cases of type 2 diabetes.
Strength is important in many things that we do in our daily lives e.g. it has been found that leg strength improves the distances that people are able to walk. Weaknesses in your leg muscles particularly your quadriceps can often be a contributory factor towards knee pain. Our breathing capacity declines as we age and half of this loss of aerobic capacity can be put down to loss of muscle mass. 
It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can still get stronger and fitter. The older you are the longer it takes but you can still do it you just need to be patient. You can improve things with just a little bit of exercise. 
Exercising does work and you’ll also feel better about yourself. ​
Ref:The Guardian