You know walking is good your pet. But you may not know just how much taking that walk with your dog is improving your health.
Research has shown that walking has an array of health benefits for your body. Here are just a few:
Helps prevent cardiovascular disease.
Walking gets your heart working harder – which makes it stronger — and your blood pumping more, as well. It also helps to prevent heart disease and lowers blood pressure. Walking just 30 minutes a day with your pet can reduce your chances of stroke by 20 percent, and even more if you walk a little faster.
Helps your bones.
Walking for 30 minutes a day has been shown to stop the loss of bone mass in women with osteoporosis. And walking in general, because of the stress it puts on your bones, helps increase bone, ligament and tendon strength.
Helps you live longer.
A study from the University of Michigan School of Medicine shows that those people who walk regularly in their 50s and 60s are 35 percent less likely to die over the following eight years than are those people who do not walk.
Helps you lose weight.
Most people already know this – regular exercise is a good way to help lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.
Helps increase your leg and even arm strength.
Because you are using your leg muscles as you walk, you help to make them stronger. You can even increase the strength in your arms if you pump them more vigorously as you walk.
Walking helps improve your mental functioning.
This might come as a bit of a surprise, but it’s true. First of all, walking can help to increase your focus and alertness because you are getting more oxygen to the brain. In addition – and somewhat surprisingly – research has shown that aerobic exercise such as walking can actually help your brain produce more neurons.
Moreover, walking has been shown to reduce age-related mental decline and to reduce the risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease.
These are just some of the more common benefits of walking. So next time you are putting the leash on your pet, maybe doing so while somewhat reluctant to take the dog out again, knowing how it will improve your health should give you more motivation to walk a little longer and a little faster.
Dogs love to run and play. That’s why we provide our canine guests here at Barney’s Ranch with an 8,000-square-foot outdoor run so that they can get a lot of outdoor exercise and play time in.
To learn more about our overnight and day dog boarding services, contact us by calling 469-450-7040 or send us an e-mail message at info@BarneysRanch.com.
Image courtesy of prawny/FreeDigitalPhotos.net