What is "Man's best medicine?"

What is the number one activity in America or even in the whole world? No...it is not jogging...and no...it is not cycling...no, it's not swimming! It is an activity that almost every healthy person in the world does every day...walking!
It doesn't require any special skills or advanced training. You don't have to have a college degree to prepare for it. Walking doesn't need any special equipment or special clothing. Although I recommend that you get a good pair of walking shoes, comfortable clothing, and a pedometer to keep up with how many steps you take each day.

The GREATEST benefit of walking is that it is so healthy for you! Way back in ancient Greece, when Hippocrates told his young scholars that "walking is mans best medicine," he didn't realize that thousands of years later physicians would still be recommending walking to improve one's health and lifestyle or that studies made thousands of years after he made that wonderful statement would have proven just how true he really was! Here are just a few of the healthy benefits of walking:

• It burns almost as many calories as running or jogging with less physical stress to your body
• It eases back pain
• It promotes good posture
• It reduces high blood pressure
• It reduces the levels of bad cholesterol in your body
• Reduces heart attack risk
• It enhances your stamina & energy
• It lessens your stress levels and eases tension
• (Here is a BIG PLUS) It reduces your appetite naturally! Without taking any of those prescription or over the counter pills that have been found to be so dangerous!

While walking is easier on your body, it can be just as beneficial or more so than running to help you lose weight. If you run for 30 minutes at 5 miles per hour you will burn about 285 calories. If you walk for 30 minutes at 4 miles per hour you will burn 165 calories on a level surface. Now, if you walk on a slight incline of about 5% you will burn about 225 calories; and if you increase that incline to about 10% you will burn about 360 calories. Get the picture? Be choosy about the route you walk. Find a route where the terrain varies and burn more calories...enjoy the countryside and the scenery around you. Walking can be an all over invigorating, therapeutic experience! Good for the soul and for the body! Hey it's still early and it's still the coolest part of the day...let's get out and WALK!