Get your steps in

by Jaime Ibarra, Marketing Manager and a Personal Trainer at Island Fitness

If you were to track your steps every day, how many do you think you would walk daily?

The average American walks anywhere between 3,000 to 4,000 steps in a day. That would translate to about a mile-and-a-half to two miles. The general recommendation for walking is to hit around 10,000 steps daily.

 Reaching 10,000 steps has proven to help maintain a healthy body weight and to lose fat. Along with physical changes to the body, it is also known to prevent or manage various conditions like heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Now that you’ve got the breakdown on how good walking is for you, let’s talk about a great place to have said walks. South Padre Island. The Island offers just under 6 miles of sidewalks to make your way from the jetties at Isla Blanca Park to Andy Bowie Park, just past Clayton’s Beach Bar.

Padre Boulevard has sidewalks and bikes lanes along the road, going all the way down those six miles of businesses and restaurants. If you want to stay off the street, you can also walk along the coastline with your feet in the water and enjoy many more miles of beach once you pass the Andy Bowie Park.

South Padre Island also offers cool places to enjoy nature walks like the South Padre Birding and Nature Center. This center has walkways through the mangroves of SPI where you can find local wildlife in its natural habitat. You might also see Big Padre, the giant 12-foot-6-inch alligator that is the star attraction of the birding center.

Then there’s Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. It’s only a short drive away from SPI and has 110,000 acres of natural habitat. Numerous species of birds, mammals, rodents, fish, and plants can be found there. Laguna Atascosa offers marked entrances if driving from Laguna Vista or Los Fresnos.

The wildlife refuge does have walking trails. The morning and early evening hours offer the best opportunities to see wildlife. It is recommended to bring lots of water and sunscreen. The South Texas heat is known to make even the most experienced hiker dehydrated.

Walking is so beneficial and the simplest form of exercise. Anyone can do it, no matter the age or experience. Walking can also be progressed to become more challenging. The most important thing to remember while walking, besides breathing, is to learn to take in the beautiful views that are offered to us outside of our everyday lives.

Lucky for us, we have the beautiful Laguna Madre and South Padre Island coastline to enjoy while taking our daily walks.

Click here to unsubscribe. | Click here to forward
View this email as a web page
Message sent by Island Matters , sarah@islandmatters.org
Island Matters | P.O. Box 2778 | South Padre Island, TX 78597