We’ve all been doing hot girl walks but does anyone every talk about the benefits of morning walks? There are so many benefits to starting your day out with a walk.
Walking in the morning has been shown to improve mood, reduce stress, and boost energy levels. It also helps people feel better about themselves and their bodies. We’ve got a full list of benefits below so keep reading if you want to learn more.
The Benefits of Morning Walks and Why You Should Take a Walk Every Morning
If you wake up in the morning and scroll through instagram, you are starting your day on high alert and it’s likely your cortisol levels may spike.
Checking your phone in the morning occasionally is totally fine and very normal but scrolling for hours each morning will actually put your nervous system into high drive.
By taking a morning stroll, you’ll be able to combat bad behaviors and habits that will put your body into fight or flight mode. Plus, there are so many benefits of a morning walk!
Walking outside in the morning can boost your energy
A quick walk in the morning can help you feel revitalized and energized. There have been multiple studies that have insisted that movement such as walking, can actually increase your energy levels. Walking in the morning will help wake you up, get your blood flowing, and reduce fatigue.
When in doubt, walk outside. If you’re limited by weather or other circumstances, a morning walk on a treadmill will still be beneficial. In a study done on walking outside v. walking inside, there was evidence that walking outside in the morning is energizing.
Being outside in nature has vitalizing effects that will last throughout the day! Walking in the morning is a great way to feel rejuvenated and refreshed.
Walking can improve your quality of life
Even a simple walk can have major impacts on your life! Regular walking has been proven to help reduce symptoms of depression and can improve your level of happiness.
If you can walk for even 20 minutes a day, you’ll do wonders for your mental health.
Walking in the morning can increase your self-esteem
Not only will holding yourself accountable to a morning routine boost your confidence, but walking does too. When you exercise or walk, your body releases serotonin which can help boost your self esteem.
When your self esteem and confidence is boosted, it’s also more likely that you’ll maintain your healthy habits!
Walking can help you increase your overall productivity during the day
If you take a morning walk, it’s likely that your energy will carry on through-out the day. You won’t be distracted by thinking about how you worked out and you’ll feel accomplished.
Walking can help with concentration and since you’ve already knocked something off your to-do list, it’s likely you’ll be more productive.
Walking can increase creativity
If you’re working through something and you’re having a creative block, walking may be the secret to removing the barrier. What’s better than walking in the morning to get those creative juices flowing?
In a study conducted by Stanford, there was positive evidence that walking increased creative thinking during the walk and also boosted creativity shortly after a walk.
This isn’t bad at all considering that the average increase in creative output at around 60%.
Walking can help improve cognitive functioning
Walking and light exercise can be a great way to increase and maintain the gray matter in your brain. Gray matter is necessary as you age because a decline in gray matter usually means that you are susceptible to things like Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Walking can help reduce heartburn and improve digestion
When you walk, this speeds up the time it takes for food to move from your stomach to your small intestine. This type of digestion has been found to reduce heartburn and indigestion. While this article highlights the benefits of morning walks, we also want to stress that walking shortly after a meal is always a great idea.
If it’s lunch or dinner, a brisk walk after you eat will work wonders.
Walking helps to build strong bones
Lace up those shoes because you’ll be happy to hear that walking will also help increase bone density. Walking even 3-5 miles a week will help to strengthen bones.
Most people reach their peak bone mass at 30 so it’s important that those in the thirty club and above prioritize healthy habits to prevent against bone loss.
Walking can give you glowing skin while helping to prevent against acne
Just when you thought that walking couldn’t get any better, it does! When you walk, there’s increased blood circulation in your face and body which has anti-aging properties. You could experience less wrinkles, less acne and a nice glow!
Walking can help reduce low-grade inflammation
Inflammation has been a hot topic lately since so many people experience it daily. Eating processed foods and drinking alcohol can be linked with low-grade inflammation.
While inflammation isn’t something you may think of daily, you might be living with a bit of it. Walking is beneficial to help combat low-grade inflammation because when you move, your body creates anti-inflammatory cytokines.
Drank too much the night before or had too many processed cookies? Walking may be your new hangover bff!
Walking can help with pesky period cramps
When it’s that time of the month, no one wants to work out. And quite frankly, you should try to avoid heavy exercise. But what about when light activities can help reduce bloating and also create endorphins to reduce pain?
If you’re up for it, a morning walk can help relieve cramps and may also help reduce period bloating.
Walking can help build a healthy immune system
There’s nothing more important than building a healthy immune system these days. Forget about downing a gallon of vitamin c, a morning walk can help to build your immunity.
Going for a walk can benefit your immune system by helping immune cells to perform effectively. As your blood circulates, the white blood cells in your body can move around to work their magic.
Walking can help you sleep better
Have you ever worked out late at night and then experienced restlessness? When you exercise, your body is alert and it builds up things like endorphins and energy. When exercising in the morning or after lunch, you won’t experience trouble sleeping.
In fact, you’ll find that your sleeping schedule may improve. Most people experience an increase in sleep quality which means that they can perform their best the following day.
Walking can help with anxiety
Anxiety is no fun and seeing that a little over 3% of the US population deals with anxiety, it might be impacting you or a loved one. Things like light physical activity and movement can actually help.
Not to get all scientific but the ventral hippocampus has been linked to anxiety regulation and when we exercise, the ventral hippocampus is activated. This helps with anxiety and improved mood.
Fun things to do while walking
Now that we’ve covered all the benefits – what if you’re just getting into walking? Below are a few fun things you can do while walking:
- Bring a friend with you, get a coffee and chat
- Walk your dog or offer to walk a friend’s dog
- Think about all the things you’re grateful for
- Listen to a podcast
- Be present, work on living in the moment
- Bring some hand weights for an extra challenge
- Reflect on all the wonderful things you’re looking forward to
Final Thoughts
Who doesn’t love a walk? With all these added benefits of morning walks, it’s clear that you should work walking into your morning routine after your affirmations.
While we preached about walking for this entire article, we’d also like to call out that walking will not clear physical ailments and if you need to be cleared for exercise, please consult a doctor before walking.
Thanks for stopping by T&W! We hope you enjoyed this post! Feel free to share it with family and friends if you found it beneficial!
1 comment
Love this! I’m guilty of reaching for my phone first thing in the morning. This is a habit I want to break this year. I’m actually making adjustments on my morning routine so that I can be more present with myself before I start my day.