If someone tells you walking is a form of exercise, how would you respond? Generally, most people would consider walking just a leisure activity rather than exercise, believing that true exercise requires cardiovascular exertion and a significant amount of sweating. If you also agree with this view, you might want to point out that this idea is incorrect.

As mentioned above, perhaps we have all forgotten that exercise and training are not just about the amount of sweating, assessing them. If you walk or take a stroll and can stimulate muscles, obtain a burn, and promote your heart's acceleration, then is it considered a form of exercise training? We will now explain why walking and strolling are also considered exercise training through these 4 reasons.

1. Cardiovascular Benefits

When we adopt a walking frequency, we can elevate our heart rate to a moderate intensity, at this time our heart rate should be between 50-70% of our maximum heart rate (MHR), which helps cardiovascular health. However, a simple judgment of moderate intensity is when you can speak in walking but cannot sing.

If you want to increase cardiovascular function through walking, we recommend at least 5 times per week, each lasting 30 minutes of moderate intensity walking. You don't have to complete the 30 minutes continuously, you can take 10 minutes of brisk walking 3 times, with 1-3 minutes of slow walking in between.

Cardiovascular Walking Training:

1. Start with 1-3 minutes of easy pace warm-up.

2. Then, in 10 minutes, gradually increase your walking speed to reach the MHR of 50-70%.

3. Then, relax the slow walking for 1-3 minutes.

4. Repeat steps 2-3 three times to achieve a 30-minute moderate intensity training.

2. Improve Lung Capacity

If you want to improve lung capacity more effectively through walking, you must increase your maximum heart rate (MHR) to 70-80% of the range. When this intensity of exercise, you can intermittently speak, but you cannot complete a full sentence. We recommend at least 3-4 times per week, each lasting 30-50 minutes, to increase lung capacity and improve oxygen and blood transmission. However, achieving this intensity with ordinary walking is somewhat difficult, so you can achieve this goal through sloped roads. Lung Capacity Walking Training: 1. Start with a 5-minute slow walk for warm-up. 2. Then, in 30-50 minutes, increase the MHR to 70-80%. 3. Finally, gradually reduce the walking speed by about 5 minutes for relaxation.

3. Use to control weight

Generally, regular walking combined with dietary calorie control can effectively reduce weight and effectively control it. According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) personalized activity indicator, it refers to adults who must engage in more than 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week, by letting the heart rate increase slightly, the medium-intensity activity enhances the body's metabolic function, or weekly 75 minutes of intense exercise.

Although saying 30-45 minutes of brisk walking can accelerate the body's burning of fat, this is still dependent on the calories you consume, so you must first understand your calorie deficit to effectively control weight.

Weight Control Walking Training:

1. Start with a 10-minute easy-pace walk for warm-up.

2. Then, in 30-60 minutes, increase the MHR to 60-70% of moderate intensity.

3. Finally, slowly reduce the walking speed by 10 minutes for relaxation.

4. Train joints and muscles

If you are unable to briskly walk because of weight or joint injuries, fixed and easy walking can also help you train joints and muscles, even if you don't reach the above-mentioned moderate heart rate, such walking training can still improve your body's flexibility and muscle strength.

Furthermore, you can also greatly reduce the pressure on the knees, ankles, hips, and lower back with slow walking, so this low-intensity walking may not have the same significant effect as the previous three items, but as long as you consistently exercise, you can slow down the degeneration of the joints and improve mood and mental state. According to the research of the University of Bedfordshire, people who have a walking habit compared to those who sit or stand, obese people can improve blood sugar control by just 2 minutes of low-intensity walking every 20 minutes.

This benefit can also extend to office workers who spend a long time sitting, no matter your age or health condition, as long as you have a few minutes of regular walking, you can improve your body's condition. Therefore, don't think that non-sweating walking has no exercise effect.