Walking improves how you feel, even when you don’t expect it to!

An innovative study from psychologists at Iowa State University has demonstrated that the simple act of walking for just a few minutes creates a positive impact on mood. The beneficial impact occurred regardless of participant’s expectations – it was positive whether they thought it would help, or not.

The study also ruled out many of the confounding factors associated with exercise research – such as the satisfaction of reaching fitness goals, social contact, fresh air, nature, and the expectation of the walking being beneficial.

More good reasons to ensure we build more walking into our day – walk to work, plan a walking meeting, walk to speak to a colleague instead of emailing, walk when you are on the phone, walk more!

The study was published in the journal Emotion: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27100368