By Drew Mulvey MS, CDN, CNS, CLT, CISN
April 19, 2024
We are training pretty hard a couple hours a day (sometimes more!), but are we always moving during the day? Walking, whether it be just to get up for a few minutes or as a little cool down can be monumental for the athlete’s performance. When I think of going for a walk I think of escaping from the world for a short amount of time and getting immersed into the outside (when I can get out). Here are some key reasons why this is beneficial on top of a training plan.
Proper Insulin Metabolism
Only exercising for one part of the day and sitting for the rest does not help to promote insulin sensitivity. This is key as sitting too long may act as a stressor to the body. Why is this? Check out my blog post for more information.
Walking promotes insulin sensitivity in the body, which is incredibly important for the athlete’s performance. Insulin is not only responsible for the uptake of glucose into working muscles and organs to prevent it from circulating in the blood stream but is important for the body’s ability to use it’s energy stores, properly grow and repair muscle (aka maintaining lean body mass) and maintain a healthy body composition.
What happens when the individual is less sensitive to insulin? One of the purposes of insulin is to bring blood sugar into the cells (this could be muscle cells or other organs) to readily be used by it. This acts as direct fuel for the working muscle and provided the energy it needs to function effectively. If the body is resistant to this, it makes it more difficult for the body to not only utilize glucose but store away this energy for future use in the form of glycogen, an important molecule of sugar for energy on the muscles, as less is being produced. Your body’s main fuel source (especially during the Follicular phase of a women’s menstrual cycle) is glycogen. Without this process functioning properly, it is very hard for the individual to utilize this compound during their activities and can significantly impair one’s ability to sprint, perform endurance activities long periods of time and make strength gains that are monumental during this stage in the cycle. (For more on this, check out my blog post “Training Around the Menstrual Cycle.”)
Active muscle is what creates insulin sensitivity. When the muscle is moving (aka skeletal muscle in contracting), a molecule known as a GLUT 4 receptor moves up to the surface of a muscle or organ, preparing to take up glucose from the bloodstream. (1) When the glucose is taken up, this allows the muscle to use it right away for energy (incredibly important during long endurance events), create new glycogen stores for your body to utilize for the next training and repair muscles.
Taking the Load Off
We are athletes and probably tend to get hyper focused. (If it is in one area of your life, it is in another!) How easy is it to get so focused in a paper or work that you forget to not only move, but your brain almost seems to stop functioning at its best? (Been there!) You are emerged in the task at hand!
Yet, allowing oneself to take a step back and push work aside is incredibly beneficial for mental (and physical) health. Getting up for 5-10 minutes after an hour of work helps the brain process things more efficiently and gives your body a break from the psychological stress. Personally, I go for my walk at lunch time outdoors to escape for a bit and then make sure I have other “spontaneous walks” in the day.
Mindfulness
Walking can be a great way to get in tune with your mind and with your body. By living in the moment, putting things aside and “meditating” during this time can develop a sense of self awareness in the athlete, which can transfer to their relationship with food. (As I said before, if something is off in one area, it is usually off in multiple areas.) Just as one would not exhaust their brain fumes with countless hours of studying, you wouldn’t be eating copious amounts over a small time frame. With this new awareness, the athlete can be more aware of their hunger signals.
It is also correlated with better mood and quality of life scores, which can lead to decreases in the next area of focus. (2)
Decreases Inflammation
Adding in walking can be incredibly beneficial for one that is in pain and suffering from an autoimmune condition. As mentioned in my insulin and exercise article, being seated for long periods of time can increase inflammatory proteins in the body. This can not only hinder recovery but eat away at that hard earned muscle and increase pain in the body. In fact, inflammatory proteins are often elevated in autoimmune conditions and need to be neutralized. In fact, a recent study on women with PCOS found a 13% decreases in inflammatory protein IL-6 and CRP per 1000 steps added. It is thus recommended by the NHS that an increase from 6,000 to 10,000 steps can decrease these inflammatory proteins by one third (33%)! (3) As one can see, walking is one’s natural anti inflammatory. Walking outside in nature gives the athlete double brownie points as being in nature improves one’s mood!
Increases Cardiovascular Endurance
If the body keeps moving, it is a given that one’s cardiorespiratory fitness is going to improve. That is monumental for the athlete as this will help them to go farther for longer periods of time and not fatigue as quickly. In fact, in recent studies done on sedentary individuals, including 10,000 steps a day in one’s routine increased VO2Max. That is a given, but other studies also revealed improved post exercise HR (the latter meaning that the heart rate is able to normalize quicker, which is an indicator of better fitness levels, adaptability to exercise and better recovery from the HR not maxing out. (2) Think about this, if the athlete is able to keep up movement during the day, each of these factors can be incredibly beneficial for improving athletic performance!
Wondering how to manage all these areas in your personal life and athletic career to maximize performance and vitality? Have you been plagued with an inflammatory issue that has hindered you from reaching your goals (or made it seem impossible)? Have you been consumed with all the media around food that it has left you numb and discouraged? From the nutritionist that has been there, let’s get you back to fueling, recovering and performing at your best!
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References:
- Flores-Opazo M, McGee SL, Hargreaves M. Exercise and GLUT4. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2020 Jul;48(3):110-118. doi: 10.1249/JES.0000000000000224. PMID: 32568924. Abstract retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32568924/#:~:text=The%20glucose%20transporter%20GLUT4%20is,term%2C%20total%20GLUT4%20protein%20content..
- Morgan AL, Tobar DA, Snyder L. Walking toward a new me: the impact of prescribed walking 10,000 steps/day on physical and psychological well-being. J Phys Act Health. 2010 May;7(3):299-307. doi: 10.1123/jpah.7.3.299. PMID: 20551485. Abstract retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20551485/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A%20A%2015%2Dweek%20program,fitness%20and%20psychological%20well%2Dbeing.
- Webb MA, Mani H, Robertson SJ, Waller HL, Webb DR, Edwardson CL, Bodicoat DH, Yates T, Khunti K, Davies MJ. Moderate increases in daily step count are associated with reduced IL6 and CRP in women with PCOS. Endocr Connect. 2018 Dec 1;7(12):1442-1447. doi: 10.1530/EC-18-0438. PMID: 30475222; PMCID: PMC6301194. Article retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6301194/
