National Walk to Work Day 2010

 

Dust off that New Year’s Resolution to Get More Exercise; Buff your Heart Muscle; Battle the Bulge and Beat the Blues by Ditching the Car and Walking to Work on Friday, April 2^nd – National Walk to Work Day

 

Held the first Friday in April, National Walk to Work Day 2010 will celebrate its 6^th Anniversary on Friday, April 2.  Created by the US Department of Health and Human Services and endorsed and promoted by Prevention Magazine, the California Podiatric Medical Association (CPMA), and now many other professional organizations across the nation, promote this health conscience day to refocus America in a push for healthier living.

National Walk to Work Day was implemented to help counteract Americans’ increasingly unhealthy lifestyles that are linked to damaging results including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. 

The reason is clear: according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of obesity among adults aged 20-74 more than doubled between 1980 and 2004, soaring from 15 percent to nearly 33 percent.  Meanwhile, study after study indicates that moderate exercise for as little as 30 minutes per day reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, stress and depression.

“The cost of our living sedentary lifestyles and not walking is staggering.  We are facing an obesity epidemic in this country. In fact, obesity and poor physical fitness are catching up to smoking as the leading causes of preventable death,” says California Podiatric Medical Association President Dr. Stephen C. Wan, a podiatric physician and surgeon who practices in Torrance, CA.

“Walking is just about the best health bargain around. It's FREE, fun, easy to do, environmentally friendly and research supports the long-standing belief that taking just a few extra steps a day can improve the lives of all Californians.

“A walk can be an invigorating way to clear your head and ready yourself for the workday. It can also help increase productivity at work. Instead of meeting in the boardroom, head outside with your colleagues - you'll be amazed at the ideas you generate when your body is in motion.  Walking to work can also help reduce the increasingly large bite that filling-up the car is taking out of the family budget, while reducing congestion and pollution.”

“By walking just 30 to 60 minutes each day, you are giving yourself proven health benefits far beyond any promised by a pill,” says Dr.Wan.

How to Participate:   Participation in National Walk to Work Day is simple and FREE!  Californians are encouraged to walk for all, or part of, their commute to work on Friday, April 2.  Aim for at least a minimum 15 minute walk each way. If you have a long commute and can’t walk all the way to work, try parking further away and walk the extra distance to the office, and take the stairs.  If you take public transportation, try walking to a further stop before boarding, or getting off a stop earlier and walking the rest of the distance to work.

Can’t walk to work?  Then make it “Walk to Lunch” day, and invite others to bring a sack lunch and walk to a local park, or plan a healthy walk to a local restaurant for a healthy lunch.

The Goal:  Add Healthy Steps to Your Day:  A brisk walk can help you and your family both feel and look better, increase energy, tone your muscles, and pick-up your spirits.  Walking for 30-60 minutes a day can help you lose weight, lower cholesterol, strengthen your heart, decrease stress, and greatly reduce the likelihood of serious health problems down the road such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some types of cancer, osteoporosis, depression, and arthritis. By finding a way to make walking part of each day, you are giving yourself proven health benefits.

Shoes:   For walking, walking shoes are your most important item of gear. The best shoe for you is the one that fits you best, the one that gives you the proper support, flexibility, cushioning, and compensates for any stride problems you may have, such as over-pronation.  Each person's feet are different.  Find the shoe that is best for your walking distance, speed, style, and surface as well as your weight and stride.

Your walking shoes should be comfortable for walking 30 to 60 minutes at a stretch. If your work shoes don't work for walking, wear athletic shoes and carry along your work shoes to change into.  “Care should be taken when purchasing shoes,” said Dr. Wan.  The California Podiatric Medical Association offers the following tips for buying shoes:

• Shop for shoes later in the day; feet tend to swell during the day, and it’s best to be fitted while they are in that state.
• Have your feet measured while you’re standing.
• Be sure shoes fit well.
• Buy shoes that don’t pinch your toes, either at the tips, or across the toe box.
• Always try on both shoes, and walk around the store.
• Always buy for the larger foot; feet are seldom precisely the same size.
• Don’t buy shoes that need a “break-in” period; shoes should be comfortable immediately.
• Try on shoes while you’re wearing the same type of socks or stockings you expect to wear with the shoes.
• If you wear prescription orthotics—biomechanical inserts prescribed by a podiatric physician—you should take them along to shoe fittings.

Use a Pedometer:  To promote weight loss and prevent weight gain, use a pedometer; a pedometer can motivate you to log more steps each day.

The California Podiatric Medical Association (CPMA) is the state’s leading professional medical organization for foot and ankle specialists and represents more than 1000 California doctors of podiatric medicine (DPMs). Since 1912 CPMA has served the people of California by promoting the science and art of podiatric medicine, protecting the public health, and elevating the standards of medical education.