Tue Jun 25, 6:17 PM ET
By Charnicia E. Huggins

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adding more evidence of the benefits of walking, a new study shows that even a quick 15-minute walk can help healthy older adults gain energy and feel better.
This is in contrast to previous exercise-psychology assumptions that such mood changes "occur only with exercise that exceeds certain strenuous 'thresholds' of intensity and duration," according to study authors Dr. Panteleimon Ekkekakis and Roxane Joens-Matre of Iowa State University.

"We believe that these results have implications for whether exercisers will stick with the exercise program over the long haul or not," Ekkekakis told Reuters Health. "People generally repeat what makes them feel good and avoid what makes them feel bad."

Ekkekakis and Joens-Matre's study included 20 men and women who completed various questionnaires before, during, and at the end of a 15-minute self-paced treadmill walk or a 15-minute rest period after walking. The study participants were 53 years old, on average.

After the walks, participants reported greater energy and less tiredness, and also tended to report more pleasurable feelings, according to the investigators. In addition, after their post-walking rests, participants said they felt calmer than they were before they began walking.

"We think that, based on our results so far, a walking program might be a lot more likely to be continued over the long haul compared to a program of more vigorous activity," Ekkekakis said.

Walking has been the only activity to produce the positive changes noted in this study both during and after the walking exercise, according to Ekkekakis. While more intense exercisers may report positive changes after their exercise activity, they do not always report similar feelings during the activity, he said.

Further, "walking is inexpensive, familiar and safe," Ekkekakis added. And contrary to the popular "no pain, no gain" mantra, "regular walking at a moderate pace has been shown to reduce body weight, reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes and lower blood pressure," he said.

That's why, Ekkekakis noted, "many have argued that the most effective piece of exercise equipment is a dog."

The findings were presented earlier this month during the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Conference in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

- Lyn Yancha, LMP
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