Walking Month in May 2014

As you may have noticed across our social platforms this month, we have been spreading the awareness of National Walking Month 2014. Regular exercise such as walking has hundreds of health benefits, in and around the therapeutic areas covered here at EMJ.

The benefits of walking can be seen almost straight away. Walking can also help to alleviate high blood pressure, stiffness in your joints, or arthritis pain. Simply partaking in regular physical activity can reduce your risk of colon cancer by up to 50%.

Living Streets, Walking for Health, Change for Life, and the British Heart Foundation are all big health associations which support National Walking Month. With their acknowledgment, we produced a series of fun infographics to help bring awareness to the great health benefits of walking.

More than just promoting the health benefits of walking these associations want you to have fun. A walk can be enjoyable on your own, or as a social activity. If you are feeling blue then a walk could be just what you need; it increases your mood, self-esteem, and energy. An American study showed that exercising three times a week is an effective way to fight depression.

Within the series we have focused on five of our therapeutic areas, in particular (even though waling helps a vast selection of illnesses): Cardiology, Oncology, Diabetes, Neurology, and Rheumatology. These five areas show drastic and positive benefits from walking including decreasing your risk of coronary heart disease, osteoarthritis, and even dementia.

Living Streets and Walk for Health also got in on the action and set up various walking programmes throughout the month, shared our infographics, and spread their own awareness via social media.

Now May is over, we hope that our month long mission to educate you on the health benefits of regular walking has been a success. We hope to have shown you that the many benefits of walking have stretched far beyond your destination, making you more relaxed, helping you to concentrate, and lifting your mood.

If you did take part in National Walking Month, we want to hear from you! What did you do, and have you carried on your new walking regime into June? Get in contact to post your experiences and pictures on our blog.