Want to lose weight and stay healthy by walking scientifically? Do you know these precautions?

"Walk a hundred steps after a meal and you can live to be ninety-nine" is a well-known folk saying. Healthy walking is popular among the public because it is not restricted by age, gender, physical strength, etc., and it is simple and easy to do and suitable for all kinds of people. However, if the walking method is not scientific, it may be futile or even cause damage to the body. So, what are the common misunderstandings about healthy walking? How should the elderly and patients with chronic diseases achieve scientific healthy walking?

Use the correct posture to avoid walking mistakes

Wu Jing, director of the Chronic Disease Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Liang Xiaofeng, vice president and secretary-general of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, answered three questions: the difference between brisk walking and ordinary walking, common misunderstandings about brisk walking, and how to walk scientifically.

The two experts said that the correct walking posture is to take big steps, with the heels touching the ground first and the arms swinging in coordination.

Before walking, whether you are a chronic disease patient or an ordinary person, you should choose comfortable soft-soled sports shoes or professional walking shoes, easy-to-dry or sweat-absorbent clothing, and carry necessary medicines and drinking water. The venue should be selected under the shade of trees or on a flat road, and warm-up and muscle stretching should be done in advance. During the walking process, pay attention to the intensity and amplitude, do it according to your ability, and pay attention to replenishing water in small amounts and multiple times. About 20 minutes after the end of the walk, you should relax in time, which is conducive to promoting muscle and body recovery and reducing muscle soreness.

It should be noted that scientific walking has requirements for both time and speed. A normal person walks about 10,000 steps a day, with the number of steps distributed roughly as 3,000 steps in the morning, 3,000 steps from morning to afternoon, and 4,000 steps in the evening. The specific distribution depends on personal habits and physical condition. The 3,000 steps need to be slightly faster to achieve the effect of slightly sweating.

The heart rate that needs to be controlled during brisk walking has corresponding requirements for people of different ages. Generally, the appropriate heart rate for middle-aged and elderly people is about 100 beats per minute, and for middle-aged and young people around 40 years old, it is about 120 to 130 beats per minute.

At the same time, the two experts also pointed out that some people think that it is not important to walk gradually, and that occasional long walks have little effect on the body; some people like to walk on an empty stomach in the morning or immediately after a meal; and some people think that the faster they walk, the better... These are all common misunderstandings about walking. These behaviors not only fail to achieve the expected results of walking, but may also cause certain harm to the body. Especially for the elderly with fragile cardiovascular system and osteoporosis, they must exercise after correctly assessing their physical conditions and avoid blindly following the crowd to walk.

Walking can strengthen the body for the elderly

Chen Xueli, chief physician of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department of Beijing Geriatric Hospital, introduced that brisk walking can improve motor function, balance ability and cardiopulmonary function. It has a good preventive and auxiliary therapeutic effect on obesity, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, fatty liver and other diseases in the elderly. It also helps to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

However, she reminded the elderly that since their physical conditions are different from those of young people, they should pay attention to the following details:

The speed should not be too fast. The elderly often have multiple underlying diseases, and their physical condition also changes with age. Therefore, when walking, the elderly should not compare with others, but choose a pace that suits them, so that they can breathe slightly but not affect their conversation, so as to avoid high blood pressure and knee joint injuries.

Don't take too big a stride. When walking, keep your head up and chest out, relax your shoulders and arms, and don't swing too much to avoid stiff neck and shoulder and damage. At the same time, the lower abdomen should be stretched and tightened with the frequency of exercise, which can exercise the abdominal muscles well. In order to reduce the burden on the tendons around the knees, the stride should not be too large, preferably 45% to 50% of the height; the distance between the two feet (i.e. the step width) should not be too wide. When walking, imagine yourself walking on two lines slightly narrower than your shoulders, which can increase your stability when walking.

Rehydrate in time. When walking, lack of water will make you feel tired, and the increase in blood concentration may lead to serious consequences such as cerebrovascular accidents. Therefore, before walking, you can drink 1 to 2 cups of water (50 to 100 ml); during or just after walking, if you feel thirsty, you can drink 1 to 2 sips of water, and swallow slowly to prevent choking due to panting. You can also choose to replenish drinking water or sports drinks according to your physical condition and disease.

At least 20 minutes. Walking for more than 20 minutes can bring better results in consuming calories, burning fat, and lowering cholesterol.

Special groups should take good protection

It is worth mentioning that walking can prevent and assist in treating many chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, osteoporosis, etc. When these special groups walk, they should make exercise plans according to their own conditions and follow the doctor's advice. They should be well prepared before exercise and take safety measures to deal with emergencies during the process.

Diabetic patients should pay attention to their blood sugar levels before exercise and can eat or carry sugar cubes to avoid hypoglycemia. When walking, they should carry a diabetes information card and an emergency card with them so that others can provide treatment in case of an accident. At the same time, diabetic patients often have peripheral neuropathy and are insensitive to pain, so they should not walk barefoot.

It is not recommended to drink sugary drinks or sports drinks before, during, or after walking, as this can easily lead to high blood sugar levels. After walking, carefully check your feet, especially between the toes, soles, and heels, to see if there is any pressure, redness, swelling, blisters, or even swelling. If you find any problems, you must seek medical attention immediately. Excessive walking can easily lead to symptoms such as joint edema, which will greatly increase the difficulty of controlling blood sugar levels.

Moderate exercise for patients with bone and joint diseases can relieve joint discomfort, help maintain and improve joint function and structure, and improve quality of life. Since the cartilage tissue of the joints has no blood supply, its metabolism depends on joint movement to promote the flow of synovial fluid and material exchange. Therefore, moderate exercise is advocated and encouraged for patients with bone and joint diseases.

It should be noted that patients with bone and joint diseases should consult a professional doctor for physical activities and make a reasonable exercise plan according to their personal situation. It is recommended to pay attention to the protection of the knees and ankles, the intensity and time of exercise when walking, and use auxiliary tools such as walking sticks according to the situation. If symptoms such as persistent fatigue, abnormally increased weakness, reduced range of joint movement, increased swelling, and pain that does not disappear one hour after exercise occur, walking or exercise plans should be suspended. When joint lesions are in the severe attack stage, bone and joint activities should be reduced or avoided to reduce the load.

The intensity of walking for obese people should not be too high. It is recommended to use medium-low intensity, or intermittently change to medium-high intensity for a short period of time to accelerate fat consumption. When walking, you can appropriately increase the swing amplitude and frequency of your arms, and use the "central axis twist" method to increase waist and abdomen exercise. Severely obese people will put pressure on their knee joints. It is recommended to walk with a walking stick in moderation. Walking will increase appetite. Obese people should pay attention to reasonable diet control to prevent weight gain or rebound.

People with hypertension should pay special attention to gradual progress, gradually increasing the intensity and amount of walking to achieve the best blood pressure lowering effect.

Before walking, you should do a light warm-up. When walking, you should pay attention to your physical condition. If you feel chest pain, chest tightness, palpitations, or difficulty breathing, you should stop exercising immediately and take appropriate measures. During warm-up and walking, try to avoid lowering your head below your waist, holding your breath, or exerting force. Stop slowly at the end. If you experience symptoms such as dizziness, chest tightness, shortness of breath, decreased appetite, and fatigue the next day, it means that the amount of exercise may be too much, and the intensity should be adjusted. If you still experience discomfort after reducing the amount of exercise, you should stop exercising and go to the hospital for a check-up if necessary. If your physical condition allows, you can appropriately add low-intensity strength exercises and flexibility exercises to your daily walk.

Appropriate exercise for patients with coronary heart disease can improve coronary blood supply and heart function, and reduce the risk of myocardial ischemia. However, excessive exercise can increase the heart load, leading to myocardial ischemia and manifesting as angina pectoris. The amount of exercise should be based on the basic principle of not inducing angina pectoris. It is recommended to strictly follow the doctor's advice and strengthen protection.