5 fun facts about National Walking Day to get you moving!

National Walking Day is the perfect time to take a moment and embrace the natural beauty that surrounds us. Walking is something that is easy but also very important for our health. Get the most out of National Walking Day this year! Here are some fun facts about National Walking Day from American Legend Homes that will make you want to get up and get moving right away!

1. Mood Booster: Going on a walk every day has shown to be a major mood booster. If you have been working extra hard or family life is getting hectic, going on a walk will relieve stress and improve your mood. When our world went into lockdown, more and more families took up walking because it got them out of the house while still allowing them to socially distance. But it also lifts spirits and is a reminder that the outdoors are a great resource for all of us. You can easily boost your mood in our Kitchel Lake at Serratoga Falls community. It’s surrounded by 100 acres of open green space and offer residents miles of hiking trails with majestic mountain views!

2. Keeps you healthy: Walking is the most popular form of exercise in the United States. It keeps people moving and gets blood circulating the way it is supposed to without straining one specific muscle which reduces the risk of injury. Walking is also a wonderful indicator of how long someone will live based on their speed. Walking has shown to lower the risk of both colon and breast cancer as well. Healthy walking is convenient in our RainDance community. This one-of-a-kind community features 52 acres of orchards and farms and miles of trails!

3. The Stats: The average walking speed of a human is 3.1 miles per hour and it takes 2,000 steps to equal one mile. It only takes 15 minutes to curb sugar cravings by walking. The walking duration for a pair of tennis shoes is 500 miles and the distance that a person will walk in their lifetime is 65,000 miles. Lastly, if you take 6,000 steps a day, your overall health will improve tremendously. So get walkin’! (And get more interesting walking stats here.)

4. Keeps us social: We have all experienced strong feelings of isolation and loneliness over the past two years. Having to work from home, not being able to go out to eat with friends, not being able to visit with loved ones…it was an extrovert's worst nightmare. Walking offered opportunities to catch up with a friend and say hi to neighbors as you passed their house. It became the new way to get out and be social. Just because the world is opening back up that does not have to stop. Lots of neighbors take walks together in our Enclave at Mariana Butte neighborhood, since it borders recreation trails and is surrounded along 17 acres f natural green space!

5. Little to no effort: From the time we were toddlers, we have been walking. Since the day we learn, walking has felt more and more natural to the point where you don’t even think about it. Walking is one of those actions that takes no thought but benefits your body in so many ways. It is one of the only exercises that takes no preparation or thought how you will perform and yet you still get major health benefits. 

With everything that walking provides for not only our mental and physical health, it’s something that can also bring a community together. On this year's National Walking Day, you could go out and enjoy a ten-minute walk around the block or get a group of friends together and go for a five-mile walk. American Legend hopes that everyone will take a second today to go outside, enjoy the scenery around you and go for a nice, long, relaxing walk.