Of all the ways to stay fit, walking is the easiest, safest, and cheapest.
It can also be the most fun: a fine day, a good companion, an attainable
goal (say, a scenic spot) three or four miles away. On city streets, in
the woods, or even round and round the high school track, walking is the
best way to experience a landscape. If it's too rainy for anything but a
treadmill indoors, at least you can read or watch TV. And after your
workout, you know you've done yourself some good.
Briskly walking one mile (brisk usually means 3.5 to 4 miles per hour)
burns nearly as many calories as running a mile at a moderate pace, and
confers similar fitness and health benefits. Even strolling or slow
walking (about 2 miles per hour) confers some benefits. This was seen in a
new Harvard study of almost 40,000 female health professionals, which
found that walking as little as an hour a week, at any pace, reduces the
risk of coronary artery disease. Longer and more vigorous walking produced
a greater risk reduction.
Here's how to get more out of your walking workouts and to vary your routine:
- Try to walk briskly for at least half an hour every day, or one hour
four times a week. If you weigh 150 pounds, walking at 3.5 miles an hour
on flat terrain burns about 300 calories per hour. So this schedule would
burn about 1,100 calories a week (studies show that burning 1,000 to 2,000
calories a week in exercise helps protect against heart disease). If you
can't work that into your schedule, try more frequent, shorter walks.
- Make an effort to walk as much as possible. Skip elevators and escalators
and take the stairs. Leave the car at home if you can walk the mile or two
to a friend's house. Walk to work, at least part of the way.
- Another approach: get a pedometer and see how many steps you take a day.
Aim for 3,000, and then try to work up to at least 5,000 steps (about 2.5
miles for the average stride) in the course of your daily activities. Some
Japanese health officials advise 10,000 steps as a goal, though there is
no magic number. To achieve the higher goals, you'll have to include some
brisk exercise walking in addition to walking at home and at work.
- If you want to go faster, instead of taking longer steps, take faster
steps. Lengthening your stride can increase strain on your feet and legs.
- Swing your arms. One good option: bend them at 90? and pump from the
shoulder, like race walkers do. Swing them naturally, as if you're
reaching for your wallet in your back pocket. On the swing forward, your
wrist should be near the center of your chest. Move your arms in
opposition to your legs—swing your right arm forward as you step forward
with your left leg. Keep your wrists straight, your hands unclenched, and
elbows close to your sides. The vigorous arm pumping allows for a quicker
pace, and provides a good workout for your upper body. And you'll burn 5
to 10% more calories.
- Add some interval training. For example, speed up for a minute or two
every five minutes. Or alternate one fast mile with two slower miles.
- Choose varied terrains. Walking on grass or gravel burns more calories
than walking on a track. And walking on soft sand increases caloric
expenditure by almost 50%, if you can keep up the pace.
- Walk up and down hills to build strength and stamina and burn more
calories. Combine hill walking with your regular flat-terrain walking as a
form of interval training. When walk-ing uphill, lean forward
slightly—it's easier on your leg muscles. Walking downhill can be harder
on your body, especially the knees, than walking uphill, and may cause
muscle soreness, so slow your pace, keep your knees slightly bent, and
take shorter steps.
- Try a walking stick or poles. A walking stick is helpful for balance,
especially for older people. To enhance your upper-body workout, use
lightweight, rubber-tipped trekking poles, sold in many sporting-goods
stores. This is like cross-country skiing without the skis. When you step
forward with the left foot, the right arm with the pole comes forward and
is planted on the ground, about even with the heel of the left foot. This
works the muscles of your chest and arms as well as some abdominals, while
reducing the stress on your knees. Find the right size poles by testing
them in the store: you should be able to grip the pole and keep your
forearm about level as you walk. Many poles are now adjustable.
-
Use hand weights, but carefully. Hand weights can boost your caloric
expenditure, but they may alter your arm swing and thus lead to muscle
soreness or even injury. They're generally not recommended for people with
high blood pressure or heart disease. If you want to use them, start with
one-pound weights and increase the weight gradually. The weights shouldn't
add up to more than 10% of your body weight. Ankle weights are not
recommended, as they increase the chance of injury.
- Try backward walking for a change of pace. It is demanding, since it's a
novel activity for most people. Even a slow pace (2 mph) provides fairly
intense training. "Retro" walking is also a good option if you're trying
to vary your workout on a treadmill or stair-climbing machine. And if
you're recovering from a knee injury, it may help. Be careful when going
back-wards outdoors: choose a smooth surface and keep far away from
traffic, trees, potholes, and other exercisers. A deserted track is ideal.
If possible, work out with a spotter, a forward-walking partner who can
keep you from bumping into something and help pace you. To avoid muscle
soreness, start slowly: don't try to walk backward more than a quarter
mile the first week. Elderly exercisers or anyone else with balance
problems should not retro walk.
- Choose the right shoes. Avoid stiff-soled shoes that don't bend.
"Walking shoes" have flexible soles and stiff heel counters to prevent
side-to-side motion. But for normal terrain, any comfortable, cushioned,
lightweight, low-heeled shoes will do.
|
