SPORT WALK

We know that Sport Walking benefits our physical and mental health but we don’t have any firm research to back that up….. or do we? Roger Burlinson thinks he may have just found the evidence he needs to make the case – in his own medical records.

By Roger Burlinson

I’ve recently turned 60 and as well as feeling mild trepidation about officially becoming old in other people’s minds, I’ve also just had one of the regular health checks the lovely folks at the NHS invite you to have every five years when you turn 50. I say five years but for me, I was passed over for my 55th one because we were slap bang in the middle of the first Covid outbreak.

I didn’t really give it much thought when heading over to the health centre for my appointment with the nurse. The questions about my diet, level of exercise and family history of any conditions they ought to know about all went smoothly enough and the blood test and blood pressure check also seemed like a cakewalk.

It was when I got the report with all my stats and any advisories, rather like when you take your car for servicing, that it occurred to me. I had my last health check in 2015, the year before I started Sport Walking and in the ten years since, I’ve taken on numerous ultra challenges, including my 100 mile non-stop. So everything I’ve done with Sport Walking, all my achievements, have happened within this ten year window since my first health check.

Now I can’t remember exactly the numbers from that first one – I’ve got them somewhere – but I do remember that although there was nothing worrying, there were a couple of ‘advisories’, most notably around my blood pressure and cholesterol. Nothing to require any changes to my diet or anything like that, just a quiet “it’s a little high, keep an eye on this” from the nurse as a precaution.

This time around, there were no cautionary results. My blood pressure fell comfortably within the expected levels, my cholesterol level was much better and my risk of diabetes needed a search party to find it. In fact, on pretty much every measure, I was either within recommendation or well below it which, of course, is very reassuring. You can never tell if you’re going to drop dead with a stroke or get hit by a bus but if your key indicators are good, you know you’re doing something right.

Rather surprisingly perhaps, I was a little surprised that my stats were so well within recommended levels. I mean I’m ten years older and regardless of how well you live, you can’t avoid the inevitable consequences of age. But then I thought a little about the date range and remembered that I took on my first Sport Walking challenge in 2016 and I became more interested in what anecdotal evidence this current report might give me for the physical health benefits of Sport Walking.

OK, so it wouldn’t necessarily be exclusive to Sport Walking, I mean I could have gone down the cycling or kayaking route and have racked up the same amount of activity at a similar intensity to all my Sport Walking training and challenge performances. But, in fact, before taking up Sport Walking, I was a keen kayaker and I had a focus on middle to long distance paddling and I was still active in that sport when I had my first health check. So there’s something about Sport Walking that’s improved my condition, it’s not just because it’s what I’ve predominantly done for the last ten years.

While the indications of heath benefits are only anecdotal, it’s hard to argue that engaging consistently in regular testing Sport Walking for the last ten years, hasn’t benefitted me physically. My blood pressure, cholesterol level and risk of diabetes proves it. I’m in a medically healthier state now than when I turned 50 and that’s not simply as a result of ageing. On the contrary, it should be the opposite.

So what can we all learn from this? Well, I’m not naive enough to think that I’ve created my circumstance through my own effort or talent alone. I know that I’m fortunate in having a good constitution, I’m lucky to have the body type I have and that I don’t (currently) have any other significant conditions that would impact me or prevent me from pursuing my Sport Walking goals.

I know that I’m one of those privileged people who are free from ailments large or small that can prevent you from being highly active and I’m fortunate that my psychological make up is that of a pathological doer. I want challenge and I want to conquer challenges and to test myself. All these things I know are part of this picture and I know that I’m fortunate that I am how I am, physically and mentally.

But (you just knew there was a but coming, didn’t you) the fact remains that following ten years of high level activity, ten years of training up to 10km three times a week and then between 15 and 25km at the weekend, ten years of taking on Sport Walking challenges from 50k to 100 miles, my ‘medical fitness rating’ is better than it was before I started.

It may be anecdotal but, to me, it’s categorical. Sport Walking has worked for me from a medical perspective. I don’t need proof that it benefits me physically in terms of my endurance, stamina, fitness and strength or that it benefits me mentally in terms of my resilience, self belief and being a counter to negative over thinking. I know all this and don’t need proof. But seeing the numbers, seeing the improved risk factors, this was quite a revelation.

Now I’m not about to start wearing my cholesterol data as a badge of honour, in fact I’m probably going to forget about it all until the next test because I’m not doing this for health outcomes, I Sport Walk because it’s my passion and I know, I can feel, that it’s doing me good. But it’s still nice to have that validation and to see in data that doing this can improve your core readings, assuming of course that you pair it with other healthy living essentials like a good diet, good hydration and sleep.

I deliberately haven’t mentioned diet until now or these other elements because it is a complete package. Diet, hydration, sleep – these are all key elements but alone, they’re unlikely to achieve the same positive change that I’ve seen.

Yes, I have a good diet, yes I take hydration seriously and yes I understand the importance of sleep, even if I probably don’t get as much as I should. So all these things are in place and working for me but they were in place and working for me in 2015. The missing component then was my physical Sport Walking training and that seems to be what has made the difference.