Walking Exercise
Walking is a great way of exercising, whether it’s for loosing weight, or for other health purposes. I have a friend who claimed that her pounds were just “melting away” by walking regularly. Setting up a walking program is not hard. You just have to remember a couple of things; set up a goal for your walking, and be realistic about it. If you set up goals for your walking exercise it will keep you motivated and get you the results you are aiming for, and trying to be realistic about your abilities in the beginning, will also make it easier to stick to your new habits. Change things bit by bit. Don’t set up a goal like “I will speed walk for one hour every day” if you have never exercised before. You will quit before you know it. Take an honest look on your daily habits and schedule and fit something in that you can stick to. Don’t buy expensive clothing or shoes at first, just start with what you’re having. Reward yourself later on in your programme buy getting really comfortable sneakers for your more intensive walking.
Take a couple of minutes and sit down and write down your goals and levels. For example: start with 15 minutes three times a week for two weeks. Then 25 minutes for the two next weeks. Then 25 minutes 5 times a week. Know what I mean? If you are in good physical shape, set your goals higher from the beginning.
Here are some useful pointers about the walking itself:
- Walk straight up with your head held high. Relax your shoulders and try to not be tensed in your back though, just straight up and relaxed.
- If you are a more advanced exerciser or are getting in further in your goals, keep your arms bent in 90 degree angle when walking. This is better for the back and increases calorie burning. You will get a more effective walk.
- Don’t try to take longer steps to increase the exercise, you can stretch yourself, walk faster instead.
- If you want to get more advanced in your walking, get a pair of MBT shoes (more about it at the end of the article) or Nordic walking sticks.
- Remember to breathe properly
There are several things you can do to stay motivated in your walking programme. Get a pedometer that will count the steps on your walks. It can be fun to compete with yourself a bit. Keep a journal for your walking. After a while, it will bug you to write 0 on a day when you should have been walking. Get a mp3 player or portable radio if you don’t already have one. To listen to an audio book or some music, makes it more fun and relaxing to walk.
If you start to do walking exercise to loose weight, remember that you are building muscles when doing this, so don’t get too disappointed if your scale is not showing what you are expecting. Muscles weigh more than fat. The proper way of finding out if you are loosing weight is to measure yourself around stomach, hips and thighs. In that way you can really see how much you are loosing in size.