Between working, socialising, eating and sleeping, finding the time to be active can be challenging. But optimising your routine is one way to fit healthy habits like walking into each day.
Enter: your work commute. Whether you travel daily or a few times a week, your commute offers a valuable window of time to incorporate walking into your routine.
When you live in Oakwood, it’s easy to do just that. Cassia, our collection of new-build Shared Ownership homes in the neighbourhood, is situated between Oakwood and Southgate stations, presenting the ideal opportunity to get your steps in and reap the health benefits of walking.
Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of walking and how living at Cassia can help you reach your daily step count.
How many steps should you do a day?
We’ve all heard the advice of walking 10,000 steps each day, but is that really the magic number?
The idea of 10,000 steps a day traces back to a marketing campaign by a Japanese pedometer company during the 1964 Summer Olympic Games. It picked the number simply because the Japanese character for 10,000 (万) resembles a person walking.
In fact, research by The Lancet suggests that 7,000 steps is the sweet spot. The medical journal found that this amount can improve health outcomes and is a more realistic daily target for many people.
Oakwood and Southgate Stations are just under one mile from Cassia. So, if you walk to the tube and back each day as part of your commute, you could be covering a significant portion of your 7,000-step target.
How far do you need to walk to reach your daily step count?
On average, walking one mile requires about 2,000 steps, so you’d be looking at walking three to four miles each day to reach a target of 7,000 steps. It might seem like a long distance, but your steps can add up quickly throughout the day. Even the paces you take around your home and office count towards your daily total.
If you want to track your steps accurately, a wearable device, like a fitness tracker or smartwatch, is the best way to do so. If you’re using an app on your phone, it will only track the steps you take while carrying the device.
The benefits of a daily walk
Regardless of your age or fitness level, a daily walk offers myriad health benefits. Plus, it’s free, simple and good for you, even if you live with existing health conditions. According to the NHS, a brisk 10-minute daily walk can have a meaningful impact on your health.
What are the health benefits of walking?
Some of the health benefits of walking include:
- Supports mobility and joint health: It lubricates and strengthens the muscles that support the joints, easing stiffness and improving range of movement over time.
- Boosts energy levels: Walking increases oxygen flow throughout the body, releases feel-good endorphins and stimulates the hormones that help sustain energy levels throughout the day.
- Improves circulation: Walking gets the blood pumping, helping oxygen and nutrients reach your muscles and organs more efficiently.
- Enhances heart health: Regular brisk walking strengthens the cardiovascular system, helping to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.
- Aids weight management: It burns calories, especially if you’re walking briskly, uphill or over a long distance, making it one of the most accessible forms of exercise for maintaining a healthy weight.
How walking every day supports your health
Daily movement matters because it’s essential to maintaining your overall health and wellbeing. It contributes to physical strength, cognitive function and sleep quality, all of which have a meaningful impact on how you feel day-to-day.
The NHS recommends that all adults aged 19-64 do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week, and brisk walking counts towards this. So, even if you’re only commuting two or three times a week, that twice-daily walk from Cassia to Oakwood or Southgate Station adds up to a significant portion of your recommended weekly activity.
Oakwood and movement go together
In Oakwood, you have plenty of opportunities to live an active lifestyle. The neighbourhood is surrounded by green spaces, from the open lawns of Oakwood Park to the woodland trails of Trent Country Park, giving you a variety of scenic routes to explore on foot. And if you’re looking to complement your walking habit with something more structured, Enfield’s gyms and fitness studios are close at hand. It’s a neighbourhood that makes it easy to invest in your health and wellbeing.
Life at Cassia: Making your commute more active
Cassia’s location in Oakwood is ideal for incorporating walking into your daily commute. Briskly walking to the station each morning and evening lets you build your step count and reap the health benefits of walking without setting aside any extra time in your day. You can even listen to music or an educational podcast along the way – another simple way to optimise your routine by stacking habits.
Explore the development to learn more about the available homes, including pricing and how to register your interest.
