Simple core strengtheners for every day of the week

By Heidi Godman, Executive Editor, Harvard Health Letter

Doing just a few minutes of activity per day helps boost core strength so you can stay active and independent.

Our ancestors might have been surprised to know that future generations would struggle to keep their muscles strong. After all, it took lots of work to survive each day — farming, hunting, hand-washing clothes, and walking or riding animals to get around. All of that activity helped people maintain muscle strength.

Now it takes a concerted effort to strengthen the muscles, especially in the core (the abdomen, hips, back, and chest). Core muscles help us bend, lift, sit, stand, climb, and stay active and independent

 5 surprising benefits of walking

The next time you have a check-up, don't be surprised if your doctor hands you a prescription to walk. Yes, this simple activity that you've been doing since you were about a year old is now being touted as "the closest thing we have to a wonder drug," in the words of Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of course, you probably know that any physical activity, including walking, is a boon to your overall health. But walking in particular comes with a host of benefits. Here's a list of five that may surprise you.

1. It counteracts the effects of weight-promoting genes. 

 Harvard researchers looked at 32 obesity-promoting genes in over 12,000 people to determine how much these genes actually contribute to body weight. They then discovered that, among the study participants who walked briskly for about an hour a day, the effects of those genes were cut in half.

2. It helps tame a sweet tooth. 

 A pair of studies from the University of Exeter found that a 15-minute walk can curb cravings for chocolate and even reduce the amount of chocolate you eat in stressful situations. And the latest research confirms that walking can reduce cravings and intake of a variety of sugary snacks.

3. It reduces the risk of developing breast cancer. 

 Researchers already know that any kind of physical activity blunts the risk of breast cancer. But an American Cancer Society study that zeroed in on walking found that women who walked seven or more hours a week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked three hours or fewer per week. And walking provided this protection even for the women with breast cancer risk factors, such as being overweight or using supplemental hormones.

4. It eases joint pain. 

Several studies have found that walking reduces arthritis-related pain, and that walking five to six miles a week can even prevent arthritis from forming in the first place. Walking protects the joints — especially the knees and hips, which are most susceptible to osteoarthritis — by lubricating them and strengthening the muscles that support them.

5. It boosts immune function. 

Walking can help protect you during cold and flu season. A study of over 1,000 men and women found that those who walked at least 20 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, had 43% fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less. And if they did get sick, it was for a shorter duration, and their symptoms were milder.

You can live free from the dangers of hypertension! Enjoy greater cardiovascular fitness — and better health — starting now!

The latest guidelines have made the importance of maintaining lower blood pressure numbers abundantly clear. Indeed, now nearly half of American adults are considered to have high blood pressure, with double the risk of heart attacks and strokes as well as increased risk of kidney failure, loss of eyesight, and even Alzheimer’s. You don’t have to be in that group. You can effectively and successfully lower your blood pressure.

This interactive online course will show you how. You’ll discover the strategies, the medications, and simple lifestyle changes that will make a truly significant and measurable difference.

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You’ll discover an extraordinary diet that can lower systolic blood pressure 11 points in 8 weeks! You’ll find exercises that reward your effort...ways to ease stress and improve sleep...and even how to insure the most accurate blood pressure reading.

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The good news is that what’s gone up can come down. You can lower your blood pressure. You can safeguard your heart and your health. And you can do it now!

You’ll want the doctor to take your blood pressure!

As you apply these simple proven strategies, you’ll not only feel the difference, but with every blood pressure reading you — and your doctor — will see the difference.

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