Walking is more effective than running in preventing dementia and reducing the three highs

There is a running craze sweeping Taiwan. However, if your knees are prone to discomfort or you have no exercise habits, running directly will be counterproductive and cause more serious injuries. In fact, just walking for half an hour a day can achieve better health benefits than running.

In recent years, running has become a new sports trend in Taiwan, with people running during the day, at night, at the beach or in the park. However, because running involves bouncing, it has an impact on the knee joints. If people with insufficient muscle strength run directly, it is not only easy to cause joint damage, but the intense cardiopulmonary function may not be able to bear the load for a while, causing discomfort.

Many studies have shown that simple brisk walking can actually achieve the effect of physical health and even reduce the risk of chronic diseases by 30%. The specific effects are even better than complex and intense exercises such as running and dancing. However, health walking is not just taking a stroll or walking for a while. There are standards for the posture, frequency and intensity of health walking.

Healthy walking is not brisk walking, nor is it a stroll.

According to a "Walking Perception Survey" conducted by the Osteoporosis Society of the Republic of China in 2014 on 500 men and women aged 35 and above in Taiwan, it was found that 80% of the people thought that walking was just taking a stroll, and many people also thought that walking was just walking a little faster than usual.

In fact, the so-called walking to fitness refers to walking outdoors at the fastest speed possible, with larger steps than normal walking, at a speed of 5 to 6 kilometers per hour (about 90 to 120 steps per minute). At the same time, you should keep your head up and chest out, with your elbows bent 90 degrees. Only this way of walking can be considered walking to fitness.

However, since everyone's physical strength is different, is the speed of walking different? Chen Zijing, a physical therapist at Zhenxing Hospital, said that the speed of walking should indeed be differentiated due to the differences in each person's age and physical function. The simplest way to distinguish is to find out if you can "talk" while walking. This is the best walking speed. If you are out of breath when you talk a little while walking, it means the intensity of walking is too high. On the contrary, if you can sing while walking, it means the intensity is too low. Using this method to distinguish is the simplest way.

Walking is less harmful to the knees than running

In recent years, many organizations have often held road running events on holidays to attract people to sign up, but jogging is not a sport suitable for everyone. Lin Zongqing, attending physician of the Rehabilitation Department of Asia Eastern Hospital, shared that his clinic often has patients coming for treatment due to sprained feet or knee inflammation. When asked about the cause, they found that it was caused by improper running. These people usually have one thing in common, which is that they don't like to exercise much and their muscles are not strong enough. Without fully improving their muscle strength, they suddenly start running, which of course can easily cause injuries to their tendons and joints.

Because running involves bouncing, it causes a certain degree of impact on the knee and ankle joints. If you run at a speed of 8 kilometers per hour, the pressure on the knees is 4 to 5 times your body weight. If you don't develop a habit of exercising, or if you run without strong thigh muscles, it will not only easily cause damage to the knee joints and tendons, but people with poor cardiopulmonary function are more likely to suffer from varying degrees of chest tightness due to the intense cardiopulmonary operation.

On the contrary, brisk walking is not only an aerobic exercise that consumes energy, but most importantly, the weight borne by the knees during brisk walking is only 2 to 3 times of body weight. In addition to putting less pressure on the knee joints, the requirements for the lower limb muscles are also relatively low. It is relatively safer than high-intensity jogging and is an entry-level sport suitable for everyone, especially for people with degenerative arthritis, the elderly, or those with insufficient thigh muscle strength.

To be continued...

[For the full content, please see Changchun Monthly Issue 393]