Tips for Your Walking Program
by Lanny Schaffer
Walking remains a popular form of exercise. It takes only a good pair of shoes , little skill and can be done indoors or outdoors. Here are some tips to get more out of your walking program:
* Progress with intensity rather than duration. Instead of extending your 30 minute walk to 45 minutes, walk a little harder and stay at 30 minutes.
* Even better, interval train. Interval training is simply walking hard for a minute or so then slowing down to a recovery pace for the next minute or two and repeating. Usually 20 minutes of interval training is plenty. Interval training has been shown to increase fat loss better than steady state training and still provide all the other health benefits.
* The power of walking should come from the hips not the thighs.
* Keep your head up, eyes looking forward. Keep shoulders back and walk "tall". Elbows should be bent 90-degrees at the elbow and swing close to the body. The lower leg should swing in a natural arc from the knee.
*Stride length should be as close to natural as possible. Don't over or under stride.
* The heel should strike the ground first followed by the ball of the foot. Avoid turning the feet inward or outward.
* Invest in a pair of walking shoes which are designed to accommodate the initial heel strike forces.
* Listen to motivating music
* Carry a fanny bag with a good sports drink or at least some water. If you are increasing the intensity or interval training you may need to rehydrate. An advantage of sports drinks is they contain rapidly absorbed sugar and electrolytes which give you an extra boost to work harder and keep going.
* Relax. Excess body tension contributes to poor mechanics and takes away energy that could be used for your workout.
* Cross train occasionally. Cross training involves doing a variety of activities instead of just one. If all you do is walk you are only working your muscles one particular way. Eventually, your body will adapt and your results will plateau. Simply doing an alternate activity every so often can avoid this.
Walking will always be a popular form of exercise. As with any activity, be sure to do a proper warm up and cool down before each walking workout.
Tags: walking, aerobic, exercise,
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