You're already fitness walking several times a week—great! Ready to step it up a bit? There are several ways to turn walks into workouts without significantly breaking stride. They just involve a little creativity and walking outside of the box, as it were. A few simple techniques can help maximize the benefits of your walk and make it more of an overall body workout.
Try these:
Head for the Hills
To increase body toning, cardiovascular fitness, and calorie burn, walk uphill. Sound daunting? Listen to this: "As a gauge, each 500 feet of elevation gain you walk will feel like one additional mile." Now that's making a difference!
Enter an Event
Consider this a morale booster if nothing else. Register for a 5K or 10K a couple of months in advance and then train for it. Start by setting a goal for how fast you want to complete the course. Set up your training schedule to help you accomplish your objective. Be consistent in your walking workouts. Reward yourself as you train to help you keep focused on the event. Read more
My goal this year is to be able to jog 3 miles by October. I am training through my walking as well as my workouts on the treadmill at the gym.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Take Your Walking to the Next Level
Posted by Debo Hobo at 3:13 PM
Labels: aerobic excercise, benefits of walking, cardiovascular health, treadmill
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5 comments:
I just blew out a pair of sneakers walking the hills of Seattle :) But I'm feeling great!
Keep going, Debo. You can do it!
They always say "head for the hills" ;)
Take backpack with you and put 5kg (=10 pounds) in there, i.e. couple empty soda bottles that are filled with water or pile of camera gear. If that gets too easy, put another 5kg in there.
You can go on like this for while, but once you start to get close to 1/3 of your body weight, its time to stop. One rule of thumb (or general guidelines) is that hikers full loaded pack should not be heavier than 1/3 of their own weight.
With more than 10kg, I would recommend hiking sticks since it takes some pressure off from the joints and makes thing all in all safer.
P.S. I am not following my own advice in a sense, that at this point I just try to find good ways to get that 10k steps per day with one small camera bag or 2-3kg worth stuff in backpack.
Beth-I'm glad you are walking. Did I tell you my son's fiance is from Seattle? They are getting married in San Diego though. So I wont see Seattle for a while.
All Seeing-yes, they do say that. I think when you are in a battle.
Juha Ylitalo-thanks for the great advise. It is not easy to get 10k steps in, in one day. Keep up the great work:)
I'm rooting for you Debo! Your 3 miles may quickly turn to 5 as you are taking all the right steps to make your goals achieveable. It's all in the HABITS...healthy eating and fitness habits make losing weight easier!
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