Reader\'s Digest Canada - 04.2020

Walking helps build other muscles,

too, especially in the lower body, and

improves balance and strength. Physio-

therapists like to say “Motion is

lotion.” When our bodies don’t move

enough, they stiffen. Ligaments, ten-

dons and muscles tighten when they’re

not used, causing pain in joints. For

back pain, especially, movement can

help. When we walk, we activate the

muscles that run along the spine,

strengthening them. “Pain and func-

tion improve just by putting those

muscles into play,” Thornton says.

Hospitals have also begun to

embrace the value of walking. At Mount

Sinai in Toronto, older patients weren’t

always encouraged to get up from bed

because of the risk of falling. About ten

years ago, that changed. Assisted by

doctors, nurses and volunteers, patients

are now prompted to walk to the bath-

room, explore the hallways and get out

of bed to eat their meals.

Since that change, fewer patients

require catheters and suffer pressure

ulcers. On average, they spend less

time in the hospital. “Every day that an

older person is in bed, they lose five

per cent of their physical functioning,”

says Dr. Samir Sinha, Mount Sinai’s

director of geriatrics. “So getting them

up and walking can reduce the chance

that grandma might not be able to

return home.”

IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR

MENTAL HEALTH

Putting one foot in front of the other

is equally beneficial for our mental

health. For Duguay, walking helped her

through some of the toughest periods

in her life. When her mother died of

cancer, Duguay turned to the mountain

to walk through her pain. “I would

cry all the way up the mountain,” she

remembers. In this way, walking

became her antidepressant.

According to a 2019 study led by

researchers at Harvard University, peo-

ple with a genetic risk for depression

are less likely to struggle with the con-

dition if they exercise—even perform-

ing light physical activity like walking.

Walking also reduces the risk of

dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Last

year, the World Health Organization

released new guidelines on dementia

prevention, and its top recommenda-

tion was to get more exercise.

WALKING WITH HIGHER-INTENSITY

INTERVALS SPURS GROWTH OF NEW BRAIN

CELLS AND IMPROVES MEMORY.

reader’s digest

52 april 2020