Walking: The Simple Path to Feeling Sexier and Living Longer

Do you want to feel better, look sexy, and live longer? Run more. As health advice says, it's not exactly earth-shattering. But it is often ignored.

As a species, walking is what we do best. In fact, it is likely how your ancestors got from Africa to where they eventually settled The standardized exercise guidelines of thirty minutes a day are based on the dramatic benefits walking can have for your health, but no one seems to be doing it.18 For people with an average lack of time, the basic movement pattern of walking is often suppressed in favor of more intensive forms of movement. However, the positive effects of walking on health are many and far-reaching.

This is the second of my articles that details why the Great Upside-Down Pyramid of Movement can be your one-stop framework for lifelong health. In this piece, I'll cover why you should walk more now that you're sitting less.

Calming the Fires

Modern life does not seem to be geared towards optimal health. The combination of daily work, the food we eat, and our need to stay in one place to work all day have all been linked to increased rates of inflammation and, as a result, rising rates of cancer, type 2 Diabetes, heart disease and obesity.5–8 Unfortunately, we cannot all change jobs and live on the land. Instead of resorting to pills and antioxidant formulas that could ruin some of your good work, the best step is to get more exercise by walking more to reverse some of these problems

“Aerobic exercise like brisk walking also increases your ability to deal with oxidative damage. This makes exercise both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. "

When we move our muscles, signaling molecules (often called myokines) are released. Although many of these myokines can also be linked to an inflammatory response, when stimulated by exercise they actually decrease inflammation.11 This is one of the main reasons why regular walking can drastically lower the risk of metabolic diseases as well as certain types of cancer. and even erectile dysfunction.13–17 Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, also improves your ability to deal with oxidative damage.12 As a result, exercise is both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. And all without a single pill in sight.

Losers wandering

While many people still rely on counting calories as a guide to fat loss, there isn't as much evidence to support this idea as we believe. Not all calories are created equal, and just creating a calorie deficit through increased exercise alone will not result in long-term weight loss.2,3 But fear not. The advantage of this complex equation is that some low-calorie activities can still help you manage weight (if you like that). Instead of worrying about starving yourself thin, you can achieve significant fat loss by spending less time sitting and more time walking.4 No gym membership or Weight Watchers * required.

* Other hunger programs with minimal scientific support are also available.

Every little bit helps

As I mentioned earlier, killing yourself on the treadmill is not enough to offset the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle on your life expectancy. That means there needs to be exercise built into your day, and the best way to do it is by walking more. For most of us, this can start with walking to work.19 Use public transport? Get off a stop or two earlier. Go to work? Take a park and ride and walk the last ten to twenty minutes. Are you afraid of being late for work? Perfect – a brisk pace has even greater advantages. 20

Movement, walking, sitting, sitting, moving more

To build on that, there are a number of other ways you can incorporate walking into your day:

  • Break it open: Go for a walk while you talk on the phone at work or drop by for a few minutes between meetings. Accumulating walking time in sections of just two or three minutes is enough to improve metabolism.21,22
  • Lunch with friends: Even the shortest lunch break is enough to go for a walk. And why not bring your colleagues with you for a more relaxed and productive workplace?
  • Move around meals: The evening meals are another great hiking opportunity. Take a quick lap while dinner is up in the oven. Better yet, take a walk after you eat.22,26 Your online dating profile says you like long romantic sunset walks, but when was the last time you actually took one?

Most importantly, all of this walking adds up. Several ten-minute walks can even be better than one long one.23.29 That means ten minutes to / from work, ten minutes for lunch, and ten minutes after dinner is a great way to start.

Pro tips

If you're the kind of person who needs a solid plan before going for a walk, You may have two more questions – where should I go and how fast should I go?

  • Take it outside: Most studies examining the health effects of walking use a treadmill in a sports science lab or give people pedometers to keep track of their steps without specifically examining where they are walking. This suggests that you can go pretty much anywhere to see most of the health improvements. However, studies have shown that walking outdoors in green spaces has greater psychological benefits than walking indoors or in the city.30 Most importantly, finding the environment that you enjoy most, be it the beach, is one River, forest, or park will likely bring you the greatest benefit of all. 31
  • Overtaking death: I know what you've been wondering all along. How fast do you have to move to defeat the Grim Reaper? Fortunately, science has the answer, and it seems to be 5 km / h.27 Other studies suggest that 80 percent of your maximum walking speed is the most efficient and sustained speed.28 If you want to estimate those speeds, try one of the the following:
  • Use a map or online pedometer to measure a nearby half-mile loop. Try to complete it in ten minutes (three miles an hour).
  • Find a short distance that you can walk as fast as possible for twenty seconds. For a speed of eighty percent of your top speed, you can cover the same distance in 25 seconds.

Remember that the key is to move around and build habits rather than reaching a certain speed. Take your time to stroll and enjoy. It is well known that faster is not always better.

summary

Jumped to the end? What you need to know:

  • After you've sat less, start walking more
  • Collect at least thirty minutes a day
  • Aim for eighty percent of your maximum walking speed, or at least three miles per hour. Alternatively, you can just run like you're late for work.
  • For maximum benefit, find your favorite outdoor spot and bring some friends with you.

More like that:

References:

1. Small. "From Africa and the evolution of human behavior." Development of Anthropol. 2008 17: 267-281.

2. Feinman and Fein. "Non-equilibrium thermodynamics and energy efficiency in weight loss diets." Theor Biol Med model. July 30, 2007; 4:27.

3. Franz et al. Weight Loss Results: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials in weight loss with a follow-up of at least 1 year. J Am Diet Assoc. 2007 Oct; 107 (10): 1755-67.

4.Healy et al. "Replacing sitting time with standing or pedaling: Associations with cardiometabolic risk biomarkers." Eur Heart J. 2015 Jul 30. (Epub before pressure)

5. Emeny et al. "Occupational exposure-related inflammation and long-term risk for coronary events: results of the case cohort study MONICA / KORA Augsburg." Psychosom Med. 2013 April; 75 (3): 317-25.

6. Bosma-den Boer et al. "Chronic inflammatory diseases are stimulated by the current lifestyle: How diet, stress and medication prevent our bodies from recovering." Nutr Metab (Lond). 04/17/2012; 9 (1): 32.

7. Mathews et al. "How do diets with high glycemic loads affect coronary artery disease?" Nutr Metab (Lond). 2015 March 8; 12: 6.

8. Tommy Wood, Move It or Lose It: How to Sit Less, Move More, and Feel Better, Breaking Muscle UK, 2015.

9. Ristow et al. "Antioxidants Prevent the Health Benefits of Exercise in Humans." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. May 26, 2009; 106 (21): 8665-70.

10. Craig Marker, do antioxidants hinder the benefits of exercise? Breaking Muscle, 2015.

11. Pedersen. "The Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Exercise: Its Role in Controlling Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease." Articles Biochem. 2006; 42: 105-17.

12. Gomez-Cabrera et al. "Moderate exercise is an antioxidant: upregulation of antioxidant genes through exercise." Free Radical Biol Med. January 15, 2008; 44 (2): 126-31.

13.Roussel et al .. Influence of a walking program on the metabolic risk profile of obese postmenopausal women. Menopause. 2009 May-June; 16 (3): 566-75.

14. Buman et al .. Reassigning Time to Sleep, Sedentary Behavior, or Active Behavior: Associations with Risk Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Disease, NHANES 2005-2006. Am J Epidemiol. February 1, 2014; 179 (3): 323-34.

15. Wolin et al. Physical activity and colon cancer prevention: a meta-analysis. Br.J. Cancer. February 24, 2009; 100 (4): 611-6.

16. Hildebrand et al .. “Leisure time physical activity and leisure time sitting in relation to postmenopausal breast cancer risk.” Cancer epidemiol biomarker Prev. 2013 Oct; 22 (10): 1906-12.

17. Bacon et al .. “Sexual Function in Men Over 50: Results of Follow-Up Study of Healthcare Professionals.” Anna Intern Med. August 5, 2003; 139 (3): 161-8.

18. Boone-Heinonen et al., "Hiking for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Men and Women: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies." Obes Rev. 2009 Mar; 10 (2): 204-17.

19. Laverty et al., “Active Travel to Work and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the UK.” Bin J Back Med. 2013 Sep; 45 (3): 282-8.

20. Hu et al. "Walking Compared to Vigorous Physical Activity and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Women: A Prospective Study." JAMA. Oct. 20, 1999; 282 (15): 1433-9.

21. Latouche et al .. "Effects of prolonged sitting breaks on skeletal muscle gene expression." J. Appl. Physiol. (1985). February 15, 2013; 114 (4): 453-60.

22. Miyashita et al. "The accumulation of short bursts of rapid walking reduces postprandial plasma triacylglycerol levels and blood pressure at rest in healthy young men." Bin J Clin Nutr. 2008 Nov; 88 (5): 1225-31.

23. Park et al. "The accumulation of physical activity leads to greater reductions in blood pressure than a single continuous session in pre-hypertension." J Hypertensive sufferer. 2006 Sep .; 24 (9): 1761-70.

24. Puig-Ribera et al. "Self-reported sitting time and physical activity: interactive associations with mental well-being and productivity in office workers." BMC Public Health. January 31, 2015; 15:72.

25. Thøgersen-Ntoumani et al .. “Changes in working conditions in response to lunchtime walking in previously physically inactive employees: A randomized study.” Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2015 Jan 6. (Epub before printing)

26. Manohar et al .. The effect of walking on postprandial glycemic excursion in patients with type 1 diabetes and healthy people. Diabetes treatment. 2012 Dec; 35 (12): 2493-9.

27. Stanaway et al. “How fast does the Grim Reaper go? Analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curve in healthy men aged 70 and over. “BMJ. 2011 Dec. 15; 343: d7679.

28. Schwarz et al .. “Cardiovascular and metabolic reactions with different walking intensities.” Br J Sportmed. Jan 2006; 40 (1): 64-7.

29. Holmstrup et al .. "Several short workouts over a period of 12 hours reduce glucose rashes more than an energy-adjusted single workout." Metabolism. 2014 April; 63 (4): 510-9.

30. Marselle et al. "Walking for wellbeing: Are group walks in certain natural settings better for well-being than group walks in urban settings?" Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2013 Oct 29; 10 (11): 5603-28.

31. Marselle et al .. "Going Beyond Green: Examining the Relationship Between Environmental Type and Perceived Environmental Quality Indicators on Emotional Well-Being After Group Walks." Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014 Dec 23; 12 (1): 106-30.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

Iron Harvest Review: Real-Time Strategy With Feeling

Review of the iron harvest

Iron Harvest Review: Real-Time Strategy with Feeling

"A fun real-time strategy game that is slowed down by a lack of polish and content."

  • A heartfelt story

  • Strong design ethos

  • Plenty of mechanics

  • Excellent destruction physics

  • Steep difficulty curve

  • Certain gameplay with no polish

  • A small selection of content

Iron Harvest is a real-time strategy game set in an early 20th century European alternate story where the wildest creations of steampunk became a reality. While the game attracts you with its huge, lumbering mechs, it's the surprisingly personal story at the heart of the campaign that keeps you going along with an excellent visual design.

With a variety of ways to deal with the various conflicts, Iron Harvest is a fun RTS. Still, its steep learning curve could put new players off to strategy games, and its rather limited selection of content could turn RTS veterans away.

A heartfelt, if predictable, campaign

Real-time strategy games are about controlling multiple units at the same time in large conflicts. Therefore, the campaigns included in these games usually work at the macro level and deal with the bigger picture of the combat forces. Iron Harvest shows these conflicts, but at the heart of its story is Anna Kos, a young citizen of the fictional Eastern European nation of Polania. At a very young age, her brother leaves her village to fight in the First World War. What was intended as a short engagement spans years, and the wreckage of mechanical war machines eventually pollutes the country and creates the eponymous iron harvest. Anna and her favorite bear Wojtek are embroiled in the aftermath of the crisis, which, like the story of the real world, ignites the flames for a second, even more devastating conflict.

While the game attracts you with its huge, lumbering mechs, it's the surprisingly personal story at the heart of the campaign that keeps you going along with an excellent visual design.

It's an emotional story of loss, duty, and sacrifice that fits surprisingly well with some of the game's crazier elements, such as the weirdly vicious Lev Zubov, leader of the opposing Russian forces. While the beats of the story can sometimes be seen from a mile away, strong appearances by the main characters help sell the narrative. Unfortunately, part of the voice of supporting characters and NPCs is far weaker, which detracts from immersion a bit. That, and the stiff animations during the cutscenes, made me wish the developers had a slightly bigger budget to iron out some of the kinks and provide a more polished presentation.

Iron Harvest BattleProvided by Deep Silver

The graphics in the cutscenes leave a lot to be desired, But when the game pulls out the camera for gameplay, the world really comes together, and some of the missing detail is lost in the wider, well-executed level design. What makes the world funnier is how destructible it is. It's incredibly satisfying to attack enemies with a mech and watch it storm through a warehouse, leaving a pile of bricks behind.

The game's aesthetic is inspired by the Polish artist Jakub Rozalski and his collection of paintings from about 1920. Playing the game is like bringing one of Rozalski's works to life, which is a visual delight as variations of brown contrast with the bright orange of exploding missiles or the deep blue of the Polish rifle uniform.

The gameplay is deep but difficult to master

Iron harvest conflictProvided by Deep Silver

Iron Harvest makes a point of taking cover and flanking the enemy, something few other games in the genre involve. Adding mechs to the fight that can wipe out that cover in seconds makes for an incredibly active RTS. There is always something to do and you will be constantly reacting to the turn of the battle. While in some strategy games you order orders, wait to see what the outcome is, and then mess up your armed forces, Iron Harvest offers no such respite, which makes it a refreshing entry into the genre.

It is incredibly satisfying to see real-time physics in action.

However, I often wish that my armed forces would respond with the speed necessary to carry out their duties. Sometimes I would click on a unit to offer an order and then watch as it took them a few moments to carry it out. When they finished, I needed something other than them. The enemy A.I. was also frustrating at times. I would have troops firing from behind cover at enemies who were only noticed in the open air and returned shots in vain. In some places they even took cover behind the same stone wall my troops were on, and I just had to wait and see which troop outlasted the other. Moments like this really spoiled my experience with generally decent gameplay.

The campaign is a slow introduction to game mechanics, and I highly recommend completing it before venturing into the standalone A.I. Battles – and certainly before you try to face another real strategist in multiplayer. Even so, the insane juggling of controlling the field of play, managing resources, maneuvering opponents, and building my army, even after getting familiar with the gameplay, was often overwhelming. Publisher Deep Silver offers a nearly 100-page guide that goes into the details of the various game mechanics. In order to face some of the more difficult encounters, it is necessary to understand all of them.

Iron Harvest BuildingsProvided by Deep Silver

A lack of content

In contrast to the wealth of mechanics, there is a poor choice of content. After I finished the story, I switched to the A.I. Conflicts and multiplayer offers and exclaimed audibly: "Is that all ?!" The game only has a handful of maps and mission types to choose from, which pale in comparison to many other RTS titles. Future content is planned for the game, but a fee will be charged.

After I finished the story, I switched to the A.I. Conflicts and multiplayer offers and exclaimed audibly: "Is that all ?!"

Those looking to explore the various game modes and forego the story will have a hard time familiarizing themselves with the many facets of Iron Harvest. It's easy to get annoyed at the difficulty, especially if a player is new to RTS titles. The difficulty can be in the A.I. Skirmishes and challenges on offer, but found the medium setting too easy and the difficult setting way too challenging. I was as dejected in the latter as I was in the former, and I wish the game was a middle ground between the two.

Our opinion

Iron Harvest is a solid real-time strategy game where the developer's passion for the genre flows into the story and design. However, there are some unfortunate missteps when it comes to the difficulty that will put off more casual RTS fans and a lack of content that might put seasoned players off.

Is there a better alternative?

The game is heavily inspired by Company of Heroes, which is a more polished game by comparison, but lacks some of the more exciting concepts like the steampunk mechs. Age of Empires II: The Definitive Edition is currently very popular with RTS players and offers one of the most extensive packages in the genre.

How long it will take?

The campaign lasts around 15 hours, but as mentioned earlier, there isn't much variety with the additional missions. Only players who want to test their skills with some of the higher difficulties will play for ten hours.

Should you buy it?

Finally. Wait for the game to add more content and tweak elements like the difficulty curve and unit responsiveness.

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