3 Reasons To Love Running (or Walking)

Staying active is so important for your overall health and wellness. It’s actually one of the things I talk about with my patients when I’m creating custom lifestyle plans as part of their Nutrition Response Testing program. If you’re new to exercise (or even if you’re not), running or walking is a worthwhile activity to incorporate into your routine, especially now as it starts to warm up. It’s free, gets your body moving, and if you’re outdoors, you’ll get a nice dose of vitamin D from the sun while you’re at it. These are a few reasons to love hitting the pavement.

Reason #1: stress relief

Whether it’s a rough day at work, overwhelming to-do list at home, or an argument with a friend, there’s just something about running and walking that’s calming. Put my theory to the test. I promise you’ll see what I mean.

Reason #2: it’s easy to track your progress

When it comes to running and walking, there are so many ways to see for yourself how much you’ve accomplished. For starters, you can measure with time by checking how long it took for you to move a certain distance. Or even how many minutes you moved before needing a rest. Check in with yourself, too. Were you tired at the end, or did you feel like you could keep going? Try to challenge yourself.

Reason #3: better sleep

Studies show that running and walking can improve your quality of sleep. You’re more likely to fall asleep faster, sleep longer, or maybe even both. This could be because your body temperature increases during cardio exercise. When you’re cooling down, your temperature dips again and that may promote deeper sleep.

Still not sold on running and walking? That’s okay! There are a million other things you can do to improve and maintain your health and wellness, regardless of your current athletic abilities. We can chat more about it when we work together. Just drop your info below and my office will be in touch to set up a complimentary consultation.