We all busy in our lives, having limited time to care for ourselves. One simple and effective habit that we all know but often ignore is the morning walk. This exercise not only moves your body, but it also introduces you to sunlight, which has many health benefits. Morning walks not only boost energy but also has physical and mental wellbeing. This article explores scientific reasons why morning walk could be a game changer for you.
Boosts Energy and Improve Mood
Morning walks can start your day with high energy. One study found that even a 10 minutes outdoor walk in the morning is more effective than indoor exercise and even more energizing than a cup of coffee for individuals that are sleep-deprived. Morning walks offer both fresh air and physical activity, which supports blood circulation and oxygen flow crucial for brain and muscles.
Morning walks also enhance your mood naturally. They support in reducing stress, anxiety, fatigue, and depression while also increasing self-esteem. When you walk, your body releases endorphins, called “feel good”hormones, making you feel more positive throughout the day.
A comprehensive meta-analysis of 25 years informs us that good mood allows us to be more creative or innovative because of more flexibility and open thinking. So if we have good mood at the beginning of the day we will be more creative during the day. This explains why morning walk is beneficial for us at the beginning of the day.
Regulates Cortisol
Cortisol is a “stress hormone”, its purpose is to elevate body’s response to threats, but its high level can be problematic for our body. Excess cortisol can increase the risk of inflammation, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, muscle problems, immune system issues, and weight. It potentially affects every part of the body if it is unbalanced, elevating numerous health issues.
Unlike jogging or long running that shoots cortisol, one key benefit of morning walk is that it exposes our body to sunlight, which regulates cortisol. Bright sunlight cuts excess cortisol, which improves immune functioning, metabolism, and stress. One study identified that early sunlight balanced cortisol levels and keeping the necessary amount to prevent fatigue and grogginess.
Improves Thinking and Flow of Idea
Walking increases cognitive function and creativity. In addition, walking assists in the free exchange of ideas between people. In fact, the increase in blood flow to the brain and stimulation of brain activity through walking actually improves your ability to think of new solutions to problems, as well as allows for different ways to look at and approach problems. According to research by Stanford University, the participants produced an increase of 60% in their creative idea production when they were walking versus sitting. Furthermore, all participants showed a positive change in at least one experiment during the study from walking. The healthy and natural movement associated with walking and interaction with nature helps to eliminate any mental or emotional barriers that may be preventing one from coming up with new ideas, which creates an environment conducive to generating innovative ideas. Regularly incorporating walking into your daily schedule will improve both the quantity and quality of your new ideas, as well as provide additional evidence of how physical activity and low-impact activity support the development of better brain health overall.
Nitric Oxide
High Nitric Oxide, much like cortisol, may interfere with testosterone levels and can affect sexual function through a number of mechanisms, including nitrosative stress to the testicles. Elevated chronic levels of Nitric Oxide cause hormonal imbalance and may lead to reduced libido and erectile dysfucntion as well. In addition, walking (at any time of day) regulates elevated levels of Nitric Oxide; for example, the presence of pathological levels of Nitric Oxide found in diseases such as asthma and other forms of inflammation. By exercising regularly (as walking helps to improve blood flow and cardiovascular health), evidence indicates that men using home-based exercise programmers experience significantly improves erectile dysfucntion. The addition of sunlight during the morning hours helps regulate cortisol production, thereby further stimulating testosterone production and enhancing hormonal balance (the latter of which is crucial for optimal sexual performance).
Improve Sleep
Walking also helps you improve your sleep at night. A brief study conducted in 2017 identified that older adults of age 55-65 years who have moderate insomnia or experience sleeping difficulties when do walking. The study identified that morning walk is more beneficial than evening as it helps in regulating sleep. While further research is required to identify why exercise in the morning has different effects compared to exercise in night.
However, morning walk has many negative reinforcements
Morning walk involved many negative reinforcement such as to wake-up, get out of the bed, and go to the park/outside. To overcome these risks, one should use reinforcers, like rewarding your behavior to develop a habit. Science shows that positive reinforcement improves exercise adherence by correlating the effort to pleasure and achieving continuity using operant conditioning. For example, if you are a reader you should reward yourself by reading a few chapters of The Hunger Games. This association makes the overall process pleasant. Studies show that reward strategies increase long term commitment.
Recommended Walking or Footsteps
The health guidelines advised to walk at least 150 minutes each week, which can be broken down into daily moderate-sized walks of approximately 30 minutes or 7 000–10 000 steps per day, to achieve optimal health benefits such as improvement in heart health and maintaining a healthy weight.
According to research carried out by the University of Bath, exercising before eating breakfast may help increase fat burning and insulin sensitivity and reduce your risk of developing diabetes. The results of this study showed that exercising prior to a meal improves the body’s metabolic response to food consumption.
Walking after eating breakfast helps to boost digestion and control blood sugar levels. Research has shown that even a short walk after breakfast will help reduce blood sugar levels. In terms of achieving either of these two outcomes (fat loss or metabolic stability), the most effective time to walk would be before breakfast.
To further explore why walking is superior, read our premium article “What physical and environmental benefits walking holds?” and “Which countries have the best walkability?”
