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14 Benefits of Walking on a Treadmill

 Written by 

Julien Raby

 Last updated on 

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Walking on a treadmill is a fantastic low-impact exercise that has many wonderful benefits for our bodies. From a toddler to an adult, everyone can get plenty of benefits from walking on a treadmill. You may be somewhat slower, or the older one. But the effort you put in will play a big part in your overall health. 

In this article, we’re going to go over the 14 treadmill walk benefits. Let’s get started. 

a mean taking advantage of the treadmill walk benefits for its workout
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1. Lift Your Mood and Feel Better

What does walking on a treadmill do? There are a lot of benefits of treadmill walking. 

The first one on our list is it’s very helpful to lift your mood. When walking on a treadmill, you will find your stress levels decrease. Plus walking releases endorphins, the feel-good hormone. The stress hormone cortisol leaves your body lowering your levels of stress as well. This will leave you feeling calmer than before you started your walk.

One study found that people who suffered from depression had an immense improvement in their mood from daily walking on a treadmill. People who suffer from anxiety and depression will see a decrease of around 20 percent when walking often. 

2. Reduce Dementia

Regular walking has been linked to reducing dementia. People, who have an active life by walking, can decrease their risk of suffering from dementia earlier than if they were non-active. As dementia is increasing all around the world, consider taking up walking to reduce the onset of dementia.

3. Improve Your Memory 

Other benefits of walking are improving your memory, cognition, and reading ability. It has a calming effect on your mood. When walking daily, studies have shown that you increase your memory and attention by roughly 20 percent.

4. Generate Some Wonderful Ideas

Walking is very good for helping to clear your thoughts. It makes it easier for ideas to flow and help if you’re stuck on a problem.

One study showed that you can increase creativity by 60%. Walking helps solve problems and unlocks the free flow of thoughts. If you work in an office environment, try a treadmill walking with colleagues while discussing issues and ideas.

5. Fall Asleep Quicker

Walking regularly will help you fall asleep quicker and give you a better quality of sleep. A study found that women aged 50 to 75, who walked for one hour five days a week, were more likely to release endorphins compared to women who didn’t walk. This also ensured they didn’t suffer from insomnia.

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6. Keep Your Eyes Healthy

As we age, our eyes are affected. Walking is a great way to keep your eyes healthy. The risks of succumbing to glaucoma and retinal degeneration are less for those people who walk often.

Low-impact workouts can reduce eye pressure which is great for avoiding glaucoma. Another bonus for all ages is that walking can strengthen the visual cortex in the brain that processes the images our eyes see. Being fit while young can protect your eyes for the future which is worth consideration.

7. Cardiovascular Health

Cardiovascular health is one of the benefits of treadmill walking. This worthwhile workout is very similar to running as far as protecting your heart against disease and stroke. Studies show strokes can be reduced by 25 to 30 percent by walking consistently. Walking has been known to be able to prevent heart disease by up to 50 percent. This is incredible as heart disease is the number one reason loved ones are hospitalized and sometimes don’t recover.

An intense workout for 30 minutes a day five exercises per week can help protect you against coronary heart disease by lowering blood pressure as well as cholesterol and increasing blood circulation. Blood pressure can be reduced by 11% from walking. 

Your heart can pump in a nice tranquil way and circulate oxygen-rich blood around your body. By doing a cardio workout, your tissues stay healthier and younger. Further to this, if you add a crazy-popular walking workout to your workout regime, this can also help decrease your risk of heart disease.

8. Boost Metabolism and Be Healthy

A quick 10-minute workout can boost your metabolism for up to 12 hours. Also, walking can even help those who are already affected by some ailments. A treadmill interval workout is a great way to get your health back on track, shed weight, and perhaps even being able to reduce medication intake. Your body will reap the benefits when you rev up your metabolism.

9. Weight Loss

Weight loss is one of the treadmill walk benefits. A simple 30-minute walking exercise routine can burn about 200 calories. How many calories you burn will rely on factors such as distance, speed, and your current body weight. 

The more calories you burn, the better for losing extra pounds. If you have a fitness tracker, you can track your distance and calories burned, plus how many steps you took.

A 30-minute walk per day combined with healthy food will help you lose weight. It’s a recommendation from health officials around the world. Try and aim for 10,000 steps a day. If you can do more than this, then that’s fantastic. 

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10. Improved Joints and Bones

As we age, our bones can become brittle. With regular walking workouts, your bones will become stronger and you may avoid the onset of osteoporosis. For people of 50 years of age, statistics show one in every two women and one in five men will break bones due to osteoporosis. 

The risk of fractures can certainly be lessened by walking on a treadmill every day. As when you’re fit, your balance will be better and there will be less risk of falls. When you are older, fractures take longer to recover from and they may leave you with less mobility than you had before the fracture.

When you walk regularly, your bone density increases as well. Walking protects your knees and hips due to muscles being strengthened and joints being more lubricated.

Avoid Arthritis

Arthritis affects many people. Most joint cartilage lacks direct blood circulation. Movement along with compression after walking squeezes the cartilage carrying oxygen along with nutrients into this part of your body. So walking on a treadmill protects your joints from the onset of arthritis.

11. Better Digestion

Walking is good for helping improve your digestion. Various scientists discovered that a daily workout routine can significantly improve your digestion. Walking uses core muscles as well as belly muscles and this in turn helps movement in your GI system. 

A walking workout session after eating is a good idea. This physical activity will help with digestion and can help in diminishing a sugar spike that happens after eating a meal. Walking can diminish blood spikes by up to 40 percent which is a great reason to walk after eating and a huge help for those who are diabetic. A bonus is that aerobic exercise sessions improve your immune system.

12. Back Pain Relief

If you suffer from any degree of back pain, walking is great for helping and reducing back pain. Walking to relieve back pain is often advised by doctors. Since walking is low impact, it’s a good way to get exercise without causing more discomfort. 

Walking increases better blood flow in the spinal structure by pumping important nutrients into soft tissues and improving flexibility and posture. Both of these are required for a healthy spine. When walking, you’re helping to strengthen the muscles in your spine.

13. Increased Muscle Tone

We rely on our legs to keep us mobile daily. Heavy leg workout is a great muscle activity to build up leg muscles. But walking is also a good way to get amazing benefits like muscle activation. To increase muscle tone even more, increase the incline function of your treadmill. It will feel like walking on uneven surfaces.

Along with toned legs, regular walking helps tone belly and arm muscles. This enhances your range of movement by shifting the force as well as weight from your joints to your body muscles.

14. Effective Workout Anytime

Walking is best first thing in the morning when our bodies are stiff. Take some water and do your daily exercise. If you’re not able to do a treadmill workout in the mornings, then the next best time to walk is after dinner. 

Walking after dinner will help greatly with digestion and sugar levels. Your legs will be more enduring. When your calves, thighs, glutes, and hamstrings are fit and strong, this will be a great assistance. Walking is easy to do. As a guide, 2,000 steps equals 100 calories and one mile.

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How long should I walk on a treadmill to see results?

It depends on your fitness goals. For extensive health benefits, you should walk at least 1 hour a day. However, a 30-minute walking workout will also provide you with some benefits.

What does walking on a treadmill do for your body?

Walking on a treadmill offers a lot of benefits such as weight loss. Also, walking tones muscles prepares the body for the outdoors, and reduces the risk of health diseases. It is a good way to keep a body in good shape with little effort.

Is the treadmill good for losing belly fat?

Walking is an effective way to burn calories and lose belly fat. Depending on your weight and pace, you can burn about 250 calories per hour. If you follow a healthy diet, you can not only lose your belly and visceral fat but also not allow it to return.

Is walking 30 minutes on a treadmill good?

It’s enough to walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes per day if you want to lose some weight and burn some fat. It will also help you increase muscle tone and improve your memory.

About

Julien Raby is the owner of BoxLife. He owns a bachelor in literature and a certificate in marketing from Concordia. He's Crossfit Level 1 certified and has been involved in Crossfit since 2010. In 2023 he finally made it to Crossfit Open Quarterfinals for the first time. LinkedIn Instagram Facebook

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