For patients with high blood lipids, trekking can not only strengthen the body but also treat diseases.
There’s a saying in Europe that goes: “If you don’t make time for exercise, you’ll eventually have to make time for illness.” Exercise, sunlight, fresh air, and water are the four essentials of life. Exercise helps keep your cardiovascular, blood, digestive, and endocrine systems in good shape, making your body more responsive to the outside world.
Additionally, exercise helps build strength in muscles and bones, uplifts the spirit, and reconnects people with nature. According to modern medical studies, the health of a person’s feet is closely linked to their overall well-being. Trekking, for example, can improve foot strength.
Trekking is a laid-back and unrestricted form of exercise that offers a full-body workout. Taking a leisurely and relaxed approach to Trekking, allowing your limbs to move naturally, can provide gentle exercise for all the joints and bones in your body, as well as strengthen your leg muscles and feet. Trekking can boost blood circulation in the legs and feet, help the leg muscles contract and relax rhythmically, enhance overall blood flow, improve heart health, balance internal energy levels, and boost metabolism.
Trekking can also alleviate brain fatigue and mental tension, make emotions relaxed and smooth, and is a simple and easy exercise method that is favored by middle-aged and elderly people. Moreover, appropriate and effective trekking can significantly reduce blood lipids, prevent atherosclerosis, and prevent coronary heart disease. Tip: Swimming is also a recommended sport.(3 Reasons why Swimming can lower blood lipids)
To achieve the goal of preventing and treating high blood lipids through trekking, it is important to follow three scientific principles: persistence, order, and moderation.
- 1.Persistence: Consistency is key in exercise, and walking is the simplest and most convenient form of exercise that can be done anytime, anywhere. Incorporate walking into your daily life and nature, and exercise in a relaxed and enjoyable manner. For example, get off the bus two stops early and walk home, take the stairs more often, and participate in outdoor activities.
- 2.Order: Start by not walking too fast, gradually increase the time and speed. For instance, if you have been inactive for the past few months or have heart disease, you can start by walking slightly faster than usual for 10 minutes, or walk for 3 minutes multiple times based on your condition. After a week, when your body has gradually adapted, you can extend the duration of exercise until you are walking for half an hour every day, gradually increasing the walking speed.
- 3.Moderation: Walking can be classified into slow, moderate, and brisk paces: a. Slow walking is equivalent to a leisurely stroll, with a pace of 70-90 steps per minute or even slower (3-4 kilometers per hour). b. Moderate walking is a regular pace, with a pace of 90-120 steps per minute (4-4.5 kilometers per hour). c. Brisk walking is a fast pace, with a pace of 120-140 steps per minute (5-7 kilometers per hour).
The speed at which you do walking therapy depends on your own health condition – you can go fast, slow, or at a moderate pace that’s not too slow or too fast. If you’re feeling up to it, try to walk as quickly as possible. When you’re just starting out with fitness walking, it’s best to take it slow, then move on to a moderate pace after 2 weeks, and finally pick up the pace after 4 weeks. Try to maintain a steady speed during each walk.
Some key points of walking therapy include walking with your head up, chest out, looking straight ahead, keeping your shoulders relaxed, standing tall, and pulling in your stomach. When walking, land on your heel first, roll through your whole foot, push off with your toes, and then step forward with the other foot. Swing your arms back and forth as you walk, and lean slightly forward.
It’s recommended to walk for 30-60 minutes every day, covering a distance of 2000-3000 meters, at least 5 times a week. After meals, it’s good to take a break for half an hour to an hour before going for a walk. Recent medical studies have shown that resting for a bit after eating before being active is good for your health.
There are two reasons for this: first, after you eat, your food is in your stomach and needs digestive juices and blood to help digest it. Taking a short break allows more blood to go to your stomach, helping it digest the food better. If you start moving immediately after eating, it can affect digestion.
Second, your stomach and intestines produce digestive juices when they sense food. If you start moving right after eating, it can speed up digestion and push undigested food too quickly into your small intestine. This can affect the production of digestive juices and put more strain on your small intestine, leading to incomplete digestion and absorption of nutrients. The Japanese, who have one of the longest life expectancies in the world, have a habit of sitting quietly or taking a short nap after meals.
When choosing a place to walk, it’s best to pick quiet and fresh air spots like parks, forest trails, or by the river. Early mornings and evenings are the perfect times for a fitness walk. These days, many city folks are out and about by the roadside. But that’s not the ideal place for a good walk – too much hustle and bustle, car exhaust fumes, and all that noise, not great for your health. So, try to steer clear of the roads when walking for fitness.
Make sure you walk at least 2000 meters each time and try to pick up the pace. If you’re feeling under the weather or the weather’s bad, it’s best to skip the walk.
If you’re getting ready for a hiking adventure and need some top-notch gear, consider checking out sports equipment from popular brands like Adidas and Nike.