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Fitness Tips: Let the Dog Wag You

Not interested in joining the gym to get back into shape? Consider getting a dog. According to a recent research study, your dog is going to be better than a gym for helping you to shed excess pounds because the average pet owner covers more miles than the average person working out in a gym.

How does the research support this? According to the study, a dog owner will travel the distance from London to Bangkok or over 650 miles per year. This is compared against the average gym attendee covering 450 miles per year utilizing various cardio machines from the treadmill to the elliptical to the stationary bike.

What’s Really Interesting

If those figures aren’t enough to get you interested, how about these: the study indicated that 92% of dog owners are more likely to stick their exercise routine over the course of a year whereas that number drops to 52% for gym members who managed to continue their attendance after a couple of months.

The study included tests that compared regular gym goers and dog owners in a variety of tests. On average, after 8 minutes of steady exercise, the dog owners returned to their normal resting heart rate very quickly compared to the resting heart rate of the gym goers.

Walking your dog promotes a regular heart-strengthening exercise and is great for stress reduction. Pet ownership provides a great deal of stress relief and when you compare what you’d spend on a gym membership and what you spend on owning a dog – your dog is going to cost you significantly less.

You’re also more likely to walk your dog when it’s raining and less likely to hit the gym when the weather is bad. Outside of the regular walking, there is the general stress relief you receive from petting your dog.

The study also found that for regular exercise, you’re better off owning a German Shepherd, a Retriever, a Boxer or a Doberman. The stronger walkers out of the canines include Spring Spaniels, Dalmatians, Border Collies and Setters. Owning a dog means you have to get out there and walk whether it’s sunshine or rain outside.

A Walk A Day Promotes Good Health

So while you are considering your options this January and getting ready to meet your resolutions head on – consider owning a pet – I can tell you this much – with five dogs, I get lots of regular walking in and I still enjoy my workout.

So do you have a dog? Have you considered letting the dog wag you?

Related Articles:

The Ultimate Thighmaster: Horseback Riding

Stretching – What You Need to Know

Walking Injuries – What You Need to Know

Walking Injuries – What You Need to Know & More

This entry was posted in Fitness Tips and tagged , , , , by Heather Long. Bookmark the permalink.

About Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. They have a beautiful daughter who just turned five years old. She is learning to read and preparing for kindergarten in the fall. An author of more than 300 articles and 500+ web copy pieces, Heather has also written three books as a ghostwriter. Empty Canoe Publishing accepted a novel of her own. A former horse breeder, Heather used to get most of her exercise outside. In late 2004, early 2005 Heather started studying fitness full time in order to get herself back into shape. Heather worked with a personal trainer for six months and works out regularly. She enjoys shaking up her routine and checking out new exercises. Her current favorites are the treadmill (she walks up to 90 minutes daily) and doing yoga for stretching. She also performs strength training two to three times a week. Her goals include performing in a marathon such as the Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness or Team in Training for Lymphoma research. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience through the fitness and marriage blogs.