Walk, Walk, Walk

I got new walking/running shoes for Christmas!

I decided years ago that I could not afford “Not” be fit. Back in 2009, I detailed some of the exercise regimens that I have enjoyed through the years. From walking, running, bicycling to exercise videos, I have enjoyed variety. For the time being though, I am really enjoying walking.

Here is west Texas, it tends to be very windy. For those not-so windy days, our 18 year old mowed a walking path around the vineyard which is about a mile long. When it is too windy outside, I like the Leslie Sansone walking DVD’s. ”Walk, Walk, Walk” is one of Leslie Sansone’s favorite phrases in her “Walk at Home” DVD’s. As it turns out, maybe more of us should adopt that very phrase!

My brother-in-law, who is a doctor in Maine, told me about a recent study done at the University of Pittsburgh. There the scientists found the more that older people walked , the better their cognitive abilities and the larger their brain became. Thus, walking helped prevent Alzheimer’s. While trying to find the research on Google, I found the article “Keep Walking to Stay Mentally Sharp” by Dr. Gary Small, Director of UCLA’s Longevity Center which included the following:

Aerobic conditioning may be improving our mental acuity in several ways. Exercise gets the heart pumping more blood to the brain, which appears to reverse cellular deterioration associated with aging. It also stimulates the growth of new synapses — the connection sites between neurons — and makes brain cells more responsive to external stimuli.

My take away from the above quote, is that any exercise, whatever it may be as long as it gets your heart pumping and therefore aerobic, is healthy and may not only improve the quality of life right now, but also help prevent Alzheimer’s.

So, I am off to increase my cognitive abilities and enlarge my brain!

Walk, Walk, Walk!