The Benefits of Walking with Friends
It's summer so a great time to take advantage of the better weather and get outside. Walking with friends offers many benefits over walking solo. The Harvard Health Letter published a short recent article on the topic. Here is a quick summary on the benefits of walking:
It's a social activity
Walking with others is a great way to get to know people or catch up with friends. It is a wonderful way to reduce feelings of loneliness, which has just been labeled an epidemic by our surgeon general. We wrote about ways to beat loneliness here. Walking and spending time with friends have both been found to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
It increases motivation and accountability
It's impossible to feel motivated to exercise all the time so it's easy to let our fitness routines slip. People who walk with others on a regular basis tend to stay consistent because they don't want to let their friends down. Friends also encourage and motivate each other when one person is feeling less peppy that day. You can also challenge each other to walk a little further or at a brisker pace each month.
It's safer and more practical
Walking with others makes you more visible to cars and bicycles passing by. You are also less likely to be targeted by a pick pocket or strange person. And if you have a chronic health condition like asthma or high blood pressure, it's comforting to know you have people around you in case of a medical emergency.
You can earn points and rewards
To encourage increased activity and enhanced health, we offer a Continuous Wellness program in partnership with Wellable. Each month, you can earn points by tracking your physical activity, meal logging, goal setting, and learning about a different health topic. If you hit one of three point tiers, your points get converted into Myers Group gift cards ($20, $40, $60) or a fitness tracker. The program is continuous so you can earn rewards all year long, with a maximum total of $360 in one year! To sign up for the program, register with Wellable at https://app.wellable.co/TheMyersGroup.
If you are new to walking or you are feeling out of shape, don't worry. You can start slow and work your way to a brisker pace and further distance over time. The most important thing is that you enjoy yourself, you are getting some fresh air, and you are moving!
