atraildreamer
07-13-2013, 12:18
Found this in my email and just had to share it with the gang at WB! :eek:
(Just substitute "Hiking" for "walking".)
From Wendy Bumgardner (http://walking.about.com/bio/Wendy-Bumgardner-61.htm?nl=1), your Guide to Walking
10 Weird Things Walking Does to Your Body
By Wendy Bumgardner, About.com Guide
Updated July 08, 2013
1. Your Fingers Swell Up Like Sausages
Fat fingers are the price you pay for enjoying a walk in warmer weather. Wise walkers remove their rings before going on a longer walk. Otherwise, you may feel like they have turned into tourniquets. When you exercise, you are pumping more blood around your body. With sweating and drinking, you may have an imbalance in your body salt (electrolytes) and fluid balance. As a result, you get swollen hands, and swollen feet, too!
More: Swollen Hands and Fat Fingers When Walking
2. Your Feet Grow A Size During Your Walk
What's happening to your hands is also happening to your feet, only it will happen even in cool weather. Remove those toe rings before you go walking! You can expect your feet to swell as much as a full shoe size while walking. The reason is simple -- you have increased your blood circulation and your body can't fully keep up with returning it all back uphill. You need to expect this and buy walking shoes that are a little bigger than your dress shoes. In fact, it's very smart to go walking shoe shopping immediately after walking your usual workout distance. That way your feet have swollen to the size they will be during your walk. Otherwise, you are likely to end up with blisters and irritated bunions.
3. You Get a Weird Leg Heat Rash
This was a medical mystery for many years. We walkers know it well -- an ugly red rash just above the sock line. Usually it isn't itchy. It just makes your legs look like you have the plague for a few days before it goes away on its own. Because most doctors had never seen it, they couldn't tell you what it is. But it has a name -- golfer's vasculitis. The good news is that it probably won't kill you. But it made me change my ensemble for the cocktail party I was to attend after a hot walk.
4. Your Nose Runs
Is your problem that your feet smell and your nose runs when you walk? You are giving your respiratory system a workout when you walk and that extra air can irritate your nasal passages, especially if it is cold, dry, or windy. You are also pumping more pollen through it, so people with allergies may end up with a drippy nose. Carry tissues. They can come in handy for our next weird walking problem, too.
5. You Have to Poop - Badly!
I never saw a porta-john I didn't like -- often, it's an answer to an urgent prayer. Walking is good for regularity. In fact, some theorize that's why exercise is associated with a decreased risk of colon cancer. But some of us have to deal with runner's trots -- exercise-induced diarrhea. That's not something you want to face when there aren't any toilets to be found. Luckily, there are tactics that can help you reduce your incidence of this problem. Otherwise, you will need those tissues.
6. You Get a Black Toenail - Or Lose it Completely
It's good that black nail polish or darker colors are now trendy. When your toes bang against the toebox of your shoe it can cause a bruise or blister under your toenail. Sometimes you just end up with a black toenail that takes months to grow out. But if it has caused a blister under your nail, you may lose the nail entirely. This is not as gnarly as it sounds -- they grow back. And in the meantime, you can just paint the area where it used to be and pretend you still have a toenail. But your career as a foot model may be over for the time being.
7. You Chafe in Unmentionable Places
Yow! When sweat dries you get salt crystals and those rub you raw in all of your body crevices. Your crotch, underarms, and under-breast areas are particular targets for chafing. I've also gotten lovely stripes on my back where my hydration pack rubbed me on a sweaty walk (photo). As an extra bonus, your nipples also can be chafed raw, as both men and women discover. Luckily, there are anti-chafing products you can use to reduce this risk. You just have to remember to use them before you start hurting!
8. Your Boobs Hurt
Men have this problem as well as women. Bouncy breasts can be a sore irritation that keeps people from exercising. If you don't wear a bra, you may also have nipple chafing as mentioned above. For women, buying a sports bra that gives the right amount of compression and support is the quest for the Holy Grail. It can be a more embarrassing problem for men.
22700
9. Your Face Turns Purple
"Are you OK?" I get that a lot when I walk. I'm one of those people who get a deep flush when walking warm weather. My race photos are kinda scary. The increased heart rate while walking will open up the capillaries in your face, so a healthy glow is expected. A few of us just get it a little bit more intensely. Take the usual precautions when walking in hot weather: stay hydrated, and cool off with a splash of cold water whenever you can.
10. You Get Itchy
Some people break out in hives when they exercise. Others just feel itchy. An exercise allergy, dry skin, or failure to wash the soap out of your pants may be the culprits. Plus, we all have the risk of insect bites and contact with irritating plants such as poison ivy. But maybe it's that new sunscreen you were trying..
------------------
Top 10 Reasons to Start Walking
By Wendy Bumgardner, About.com Guide
Why should you start walking? Walking for 30 to 60 minutes each day is one of the best things you can do for your body, mind, and spirit. Here are great reasons to start walking.
1. Walkers Live Longer
The Honolulu Heart Study of 8000 men found that walking just two miles a day cut the risk of death almost in half. The walkers' risk of death was especially lower from cancer. Other studies have had similar findings - if you keep walking, you improve your chances of a longer and healthier life.
2. Walking Helps Prevent Weight Gain
If you add just 2000 more steps a day to your regular activities, you may never gain another pound. So says research by Dr. James O. Hill of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. To lose weight, add in more steps.
3. You Can Walk Off Weight
Exercise such as walking is an important part of any weight loss program. You must still watch how much you eat in order to lose weight. But walking helps you build healthy lean muscle, lose inches of fat, and pump up your metabolism. Of long-term successful weight losers, almost all maintain a program of walking or other exercise.
4. Walking Reduces Risk of Cancer
Study after study has shown that walking and exercise reduces your risk of breast cancer and colon cancer. Walking is also good for those undergoing cancer treatment, improving their chances of recovery and survival.
5. Walking Reduces Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke
Heart disease and stroke are among the top killers of both men and women. You can cut your risk of both in half by walking for 30-60 minutes a day. Get your blood moving!
6. Walking Reduces Diabetes Risk
Get out and walk for 30 minutes a day as your minimum daily requirement for health and to prevent Type 2 diabetes. A study by the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, discovered that walking for 30 minutes a day cut diabetes risks for overweight as well as non-overweight men and women. Walking also helps maintain blood sugar balance for those with diabetes.
7. Walking Boosts Your Brain Power
A study of people over 60 funded by the National Council on Aging, published in the July 29, 1999 issue of Nature, found that walking 45 minutes a day at 16-minute mile pace increased the thinking skills of those over 60. The participants started at 15 minutes of walking and built up their time and speed. The result was that the same people were mentally sharper after taking up this walking program.
8. Walking Improves Mood and Relieves Stress
Walking and other exercise leads to the release of the body's natural happy drugs - endorphins. Most people notice an improvement in mood. A Nov. 9, 1999 study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine showed that university students who walked and did other easy to moderate exercise regularly had lower stress levels than couch potatoes or those who exercised strenuously.
9. Walking Can Prevent Erectile Dysfunction
What better reason for men to take a brisk two mile walk each day - a reduced risk of impotence from mid-life onward.
10. It's Easy to Get Started Walking
All you need is a pair of comfortable shoes and to get yourself out the door or onto the treadmill. You can reap the benefits of walking from doing several shorter walks or one longer walk during the day. To get you on the right foot, this easy tutorial shows you how to walk with good posture and how to increase your walking time each day.
(Just substitute "Hiking" for "walking".)
From Wendy Bumgardner (http://walking.about.com/bio/Wendy-Bumgardner-61.htm?nl=1), your Guide to Walking
10 Weird Things Walking Does to Your Body
By Wendy Bumgardner, About.com Guide
Updated July 08, 2013
1. Your Fingers Swell Up Like Sausages
Fat fingers are the price you pay for enjoying a walk in warmer weather. Wise walkers remove their rings before going on a longer walk. Otherwise, you may feel like they have turned into tourniquets. When you exercise, you are pumping more blood around your body. With sweating and drinking, you may have an imbalance in your body salt (electrolytes) and fluid balance. As a result, you get swollen hands, and swollen feet, too!
More: Swollen Hands and Fat Fingers When Walking
2. Your Feet Grow A Size During Your Walk
What's happening to your hands is also happening to your feet, only it will happen even in cool weather. Remove those toe rings before you go walking! You can expect your feet to swell as much as a full shoe size while walking. The reason is simple -- you have increased your blood circulation and your body can't fully keep up with returning it all back uphill. You need to expect this and buy walking shoes that are a little bigger than your dress shoes. In fact, it's very smart to go walking shoe shopping immediately after walking your usual workout distance. That way your feet have swollen to the size they will be during your walk. Otherwise, you are likely to end up with blisters and irritated bunions.
3. You Get a Weird Leg Heat Rash
This was a medical mystery for many years. We walkers know it well -- an ugly red rash just above the sock line. Usually it isn't itchy. It just makes your legs look like you have the plague for a few days before it goes away on its own. Because most doctors had never seen it, they couldn't tell you what it is. But it has a name -- golfer's vasculitis. The good news is that it probably won't kill you. But it made me change my ensemble for the cocktail party I was to attend after a hot walk.
4. Your Nose Runs
Is your problem that your feet smell and your nose runs when you walk? You are giving your respiratory system a workout when you walk and that extra air can irritate your nasal passages, especially if it is cold, dry, or windy. You are also pumping more pollen through it, so people with allergies may end up with a drippy nose. Carry tissues. They can come in handy for our next weird walking problem, too.
5. You Have to Poop - Badly!
I never saw a porta-john I didn't like -- often, it's an answer to an urgent prayer. Walking is good for regularity. In fact, some theorize that's why exercise is associated with a decreased risk of colon cancer. But some of us have to deal with runner's trots -- exercise-induced diarrhea. That's not something you want to face when there aren't any toilets to be found. Luckily, there are tactics that can help you reduce your incidence of this problem. Otherwise, you will need those tissues.
6. You Get a Black Toenail - Or Lose it Completely
It's good that black nail polish or darker colors are now trendy. When your toes bang against the toebox of your shoe it can cause a bruise or blister under your toenail. Sometimes you just end up with a black toenail that takes months to grow out. But if it has caused a blister under your nail, you may lose the nail entirely. This is not as gnarly as it sounds -- they grow back. And in the meantime, you can just paint the area where it used to be and pretend you still have a toenail. But your career as a foot model may be over for the time being.
7. You Chafe in Unmentionable Places
Yow! When sweat dries you get salt crystals and those rub you raw in all of your body crevices. Your crotch, underarms, and under-breast areas are particular targets for chafing. I've also gotten lovely stripes on my back where my hydration pack rubbed me on a sweaty walk (photo). As an extra bonus, your nipples also can be chafed raw, as both men and women discover. Luckily, there are anti-chafing products you can use to reduce this risk. You just have to remember to use them before you start hurting!
8. Your Boobs Hurt
Men have this problem as well as women. Bouncy breasts can be a sore irritation that keeps people from exercising. If you don't wear a bra, you may also have nipple chafing as mentioned above. For women, buying a sports bra that gives the right amount of compression and support is the quest for the Holy Grail. It can be a more embarrassing problem for men.
22700
9. Your Face Turns Purple
"Are you OK?" I get that a lot when I walk. I'm one of those people who get a deep flush when walking warm weather. My race photos are kinda scary. The increased heart rate while walking will open up the capillaries in your face, so a healthy glow is expected. A few of us just get it a little bit more intensely. Take the usual precautions when walking in hot weather: stay hydrated, and cool off with a splash of cold water whenever you can.
10. You Get Itchy
Some people break out in hives when they exercise. Others just feel itchy. An exercise allergy, dry skin, or failure to wash the soap out of your pants may be the culprits. Plus, we all have the risk of insect bites and contact with irritating plants such as poison ivy. But maybe it's that new sunscreen you were trying..
------------------
Top 10 Reasons to Start Walking
By Wendy Bumgardner, About.com Guide
Why should you start walking? Walking for 30 to 60 minutes each day is one of the best things you can do for your body, mind, and spirit. Here are great reasons to start walking.
1. Walkers Live Longer
The Honolulu Heart Study of 8000 men found that walking just two miles a day cut the risk of death almost in half. The walkers' risk of death was especially lower from cancer. Other studies have had similar findings - if you keep walking, you improve your chances of a longer and healthier life.
2. Walking Helps Prevent Weight Gain
If you add just 2000 more steps a day to your regular activities, you may never gain another pound. So says research by Dr. James O. Hill of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. To lose weight, add in more steps.
3. You Can Walk Off Weight
Exercise such as walking is an important part of any weight loss program. You must still watch how much you eat in order to lose weight. But walking helps you build healthy lean muscle, lose inches of fat, and pump up your metabolism. Of long-term successful weight losers, almost all maintain a program of walking or other exercise.
4. Walking Reduces Risk of Cancer
Study after study has shown that walking and exercise reduces your risk of breast cancer and colon cancer. Walking is also good for those undergoing cancer treatment, improving their chances of recovery and survival.
5. Walking Reduces Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke
Heart disease and stroke are among the top killers of both men and women. You can cut your risk of both in half by walking for 30-60 minutes a day. Get your blood moving!
6. Walking Reduces Diabetes Risk
Get out and walk for 30 minutes a day as your minimum daily requirement for health and to prevent Type 2 diabetes. A study by the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, discovered that walking for 30 minutes a day cut diabetes risks for overweight as well as non-overweight men and women. Walking also helps maintain blood sugar balance for those with diabetes.
7. Walking Boosts Your Brain Power
A study of people over 60 funded by the National Council on Aging, published in the July 29, 1999 issue of Nature, found that walking 45 minutes a day at 16-minute mile pace increased the thinking skills of those over 60. The participants started at 15 minutes of walking and built up their time and speed. The result was that the same people were mentally sharper after taking up this walking program.
8. Walking Improves Mood and Relieves Stress
Walking and other exercise leads to the release of the body's natural happy drugs - endorphins. Most people notice an improvement in mood. A Nov. 9, 1999 study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine showed that university students who walked and did other easy to moderate exercise regularly had lower stress levels than couch potatoes or those who exercised strenuously.
9. Walking Can Prevent Erectile Dysfunction
What better reason for men to take a brisk two mile walk each day - a reduced risk of impotence from mid-life onward.
10. It's Easy to Get Started Walking
All you need is a pair of comfortable shoes and to get yourself out the door or onto the treadmill. You can reap the benefits of walking from doing several shorter walks or one longer walk during the day. To get you on the right foot, this easy tutorial shows you how to walk with good posture and how to increase your walking time each day.