Television presenter Julia Bradbury has said, “Walking keeps me sane”.  A prolific walker, Julia credits walking for helping her tackle life’s ups and downs.  Now Julia has teamed up with AXA PPP healthcare to encourage the nation to try Walk30 #TRYit challenge, encouraging pledges to take a brisk walk for 30 minutes, five times a week for four weeks, to improve mood as well as strengthen the heart and muscles.

The best way to get more benefit from walking is simply to pick up the pace.  The average UK male weighing a little over 13 stone (184lb) walking at 3mph (or 20 minutes per mile) for 30 minutes will burn 144 calories.  Up the pace to 4mph (15 minutes per mile) and he’ll burn 205 calories.  The average woman weighing 11 stone (154 lb) walking for 30 minutes will burn 119 calories at 3mph, but 170 calories at 4mph.

AXA PPP’s physiotherapist, Kristopher Robertson, has highlighted three of the benefits you might see from walking.

“Fitting in that vital half an hour walk a day could be easier than many people think and in fact many of us could be well on the way to achieving the goal already.  And the good news is that discovering the ‘hidden walks of life’ is easy.  Not only does it help your mood but strengthens your heart and muscles and can prevent heart disease.”

Here, AXA PPP healthcare suggests how we can improve the hidden walks of life that we do everyday or could include in our weekly routines.

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