Walking After Meals

To aid my fitness routine, I've been arranging to go walking for 30 minutes after lunch and dinner on my "off" days (these are my recovery days - no exercise days).

I would do it on my "on" days, but I usually don't have time for the walk + my work out, so have to compromise.

The advantages the walk delivers to my body are better blood circulation, quicker removal of waste products and a higher metabolism. Here's how that works:

Raising Your Metabolism

Going for a 30 - 45 minute walk after every meal is a great way to take advantage of your post-meal blood sugar levels.

Using up food energy soon after it hits your blood stream speeds up your metabolism and encourages your body to store the energy in your muscles as as glycogen, rather than in your fat deposit areas around your waist, bum and organs. Muscle glycogen is used up quickly and efficiently whereas energy stored as fat takes longer to unlock and even longer to burn.

Improving Circulation

After a meal, your blood thickens with minerals, vitamins, fats, sugars and amino acids that come from the food you've just eaten. For an hour, you work extra hard to digest the food, then churn the particles around in your blood stream until they either get stored away or eliminated as waste. A brisk walk dilates your arteries and veins reducing resistance to the thickend blood and lowering your blood pressure. It also speeds up the repair, elimination and absorption process making you feel less drowsy and more energetic. Fast circulating blood also prevents crystalised minerals (like uric acid) and agglutinated componds (fatty carb and protein globs that bubble around after meals) from collecting in joints and other places where they can cause discomfort and stiffness.




Parker Lake - Personal Trainer and Nutrition Consultant | M: +44 7984427854 | www.parker-lake.com

This winter I'm doing the SNOW-CAMP Everest Challenge. Please sponsor me on http://www.justgiving.com/parkerlake.