11 Reasons You Should Walk on Your Lunch Break
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Whether you’re looking for a way to boost your brainpower or your legs are screaming out for a bit of exercise, consider taking a stroll during your lunch break. Not only is it a great strategy to maintain your overall health, but it’s also an excellent way to get the creative juices flowing.
As the Founder of Ethos Copywriting, a content marketing agency based in Erie, PA, I have to stay pretty plugged in from nine to five. And honestly, most days, it extends significantly past those hours. To ensure I’m still getting some cardiovascular activity (cardio) each day, I try to step outside at lunch.
While walking might not seem like a killer workout, the benefits are extensive. More specifically, going on a lunchtime amble.
Doesn’t Suck Up Your Time
It doesn’t take much to benefit from walking. In fact, squeezing in about 21 minutes of brisk walking every day (or 30 minutes five days a week) will help you lower your risk of certain diseases, control your blood pressure, and stave off weight gain. Instead of driving to pick up lunch, consider walking. And if you’re a brown-bagger, sneaking in a few minutes in after that PB&J.
However, if you’re so slammed during the day that you can’t squeeze in 21 consecutive minutes of motion, consider breaking your strolling session into more manageable pieces. Research from the University Of Utah School Of Medicine suggests that people who got up and moved around for at least two minutes every hour had a 33 percent lower risk of dying from various health complications caused by ailments such as chronic kidney disease, obesity, and inflammation.
2. Costs Nothing
You don’t need a gym membership to walk, nor do you need special training or equipment. Whether you’re working from home and can stroll through your neighborhood, or you do laps around your office parking lot, there is very little barrier to entry.
While you can certainly pace through the hallways of your building, I recommend taking the opportunity to get outdoors. If you’re feeling social, ask a coworker to come with you.
3. Is Beginner-Friendly
If you search for office exercises, they’re all good in theory but pretty unrealistic in practice. For instance, tricep dips in a computer chair with wheels can cause severe shoulder pain. Lunges and squats in work attire are a recipe for ripped seams and an awkward exit from the building. And jumping jacks are going to make you way too sweaty.
If you’re just starting your walking routine, try keeping a pace of about 3.0 to 3.5 mph and increase your walk time week after week. Beginner guidelines from the University of California, Berkeley suggest increasing your time by about five minutes per week until you’re able to walk 30 minutes per day.
4. Strengthens Your Heart
Listen to your heart. It’s telling you to take a walk around the block. According to the National Heart Foundation of Australia, walking for an average of 30 minutes or more a day can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes by 35 and 40 percent, respectively. Evidence suggests that walking also:
Improves pulmonary function
Improves hypertension (high blood pressure)
Lowers cholesterol
Remember, the heart is a muscle, and as with any muscle, your heart strengthens with regular physical activity. Keep up with your walking, and you’ll also find that other aerobic exercises start feeling more energizing than exhausting.
5. Promotes Weight Loss
Walking, like any exercise, burns calories, which makes it helpful for maintaining and losing weight. For anyone who thinks high-intensity cardio is the only way to shed some pounds, think again. If you put aside 30 minutes of your day for walking at a quick pace, you can burn up to 150 calories.
Walking also helps reduce belly fat, which researchers have linked to various diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. In a 2014 study, researchers found that women who are obese who walked for about 60 minutes three times per week for 12 weeks reduced their waist circumference by 1.1 inches.
6. Boosts Your Daily Energy
Feeling fatigued is often a barrier that prevents people from being physically active. Interestingly, being exhausted may be a product of not exercising enough.
In a study conducted at the University of Georgia, researchers found that inactive people who commonly complained of fatigue could increase energy levels by 20 percent while decreasing fatigue by as much as 65 percent by participating in regular, low-intensity exercise. So, while you may be exhausted at work, the reality is that a little movement may be the remedy.
7. Improves Your Mood
Physical activity promotes the production of endorphins, which are hormones that act as pain and stress relievers. Endorphins have also been referred to as “feel-good neurotransmitters” due to their ability to make a person feel happy. The Iowa State University conducted a three-part study which ultimately found that walking facilitates positive moods.
Endorphins are often associated with a "runner's high," a euphoric sensation a person feels during and after running. However, endorphins are not specific to running, as your body can produce them during any physical activity that gets your heart pumping faster than usual.
8. Tones Your Muscles
Remember, walking is also a weight-bearing exercise. It’s you against gravity.
When you're starting an exercise routine, walking can be an excellent way to tone and build lean muscle. While it may not result in the same cut and bulk that weight training can offer, increasing the intensity of your pace, mixing up the terrain, and hitting hills can result in a flat belly and toned legs.
9. Alleviates Joint Pain
The Arthritis Foundation also asserts that walking helps lose and maintain weight, resulting in less stress on your joints and decreased arthritis symptoms. Moreover, walking is inherently a low-impact exercise, which assists in staving off pain by keeping your joints in shape and building muscle strength.
10. Enhances Quality of Sleep
In addition to lowering the risk of health complications, walking may decrease the likelihood of lying awake at night. The National Sleep Foundation discovered that low-impact physical activity is positively related to sleep quality. If you're feeling restless at night from soaking in all the blue light from your computer monitor, then a walk could be a simple solution.
11. Fosters Creativity
Stanford University researchers have found that walking can boost your creativity. Researchers asked participants to walk in the experiment and then complete Guilford's alternate uses (GAU) test of creative divergent thinking and the compound remote associates (CRA) test of convergent thinking. Results showed that "walking increased 81% of participants' creativity."
If you're a graphic designer, content marketer, web designer, or you're in any position that requires a significant amount of creative thinking, go for a walk. You'll likely be amazed at how much the quality of your work improves.
Get Fit Mentally and Physically
There are few exercises as easy as walking that deliver the same level of benefit. Whether you're working from home or in an office, be sure to take some time to step away from the screen.
If you're a Radius member, be sure to join the #fitness channel on Slack. Also, if you dig this article, drop by my other Radius guest blog posts: