July 9, 2007

WHY WALK? Women who walked 45 minutes a day are half as likely as sedentary women to come down with colds or flu, according to a study by the University of North Carolina exercise physiologist David Nieman. Exceptionally active women in their seventies, in fact, had immune systems that were just as robust as those of women half their age, and almost twice as strong as those of most sedentary seniors. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that women ages 50 to 79 who walked briskly for 75 to 150 minutes per week had an 18% lower risk of the disease than inactive women. According to Harvard researcher I-Min Lee, M.D., walking may lower levels of hormones that contribute to the disease - particularly estrogen, which is produced in body fat in postmenopausal women.

DID YOU KNOW that walking up hills burns more calories? Obvious! But did you know that walking downhill also uses significantly more energy than walking on flat terrain? And if you didn't know - now you do!

And 50% is how much you can cut diabetes and heart disease risk with exercise, even if you don't start start until you are 55! All it takes is 30 to 45 minutes of walking 3 days a week. And just think how much better you will feel, more that you will be able to do and how you may even better your odds with more and different exercises.

For comments, questions or suggestions . . . please email Allen