Walking it Off

There’s no shortage of information about how good for you it is to walk on a regular basis. There are even all kinds of walking routines and techniques to use it as a weight-loss tool.

That’s great and all, but for me, I just enjoy walking. Plug in my tunes, put on my sunglasses (which is sometimes overly optimistic of me), and go.

I work in an office, but I’m lucky enough to have the freedom and encouragement to take walking breaks, and it’s a nice enough area that I can even get a little bit of a longer walk in during my lunch break. When I get back to work, I’m energized, I’ve had some fresh air, and my blood is pumping.

Moderate exercise and a brain recharge. I’ll take that.

But the minute I start looking at walking as “exercise” and start trying to up the intensity, add weights – whatever – the minute I don’t want to do it. At that point, it’s not relaxing, it’s work.

So instead of making sure I’m keeping up a four mph pace, swinging my arms with weights strapped my wrists and ankles, and tossing in a few walking lunges here and there, I’ll stick to plugging in my tunes and keeping up with the beat, enjoying the fresh air, and recharging. We’ll call the exercise benefits of it a bonus!