74A - Fit and Well Column for June 6th, 2004
74A - TITLE: "WALK Your Way to Fitness"
Dear David and Trish,
You have mentioned in your column a number of times that you don't generally recommend running as a primary aerobic exercise, especially for the group of us that are "pushing" middle age! I do agree with your reasoning, but I am wondering how you feel about walking as an alternative.
Is walking sufficiently challenging to provide the workout that I need? Will it burn enough calories? Is there any way to make walking more effective?
I know. Lot's of questions. But I need to develop a safe and effective program. Help!!!
Sincerely,
Connie in Crofton
Dear Connie,
Lot's of questions, but ALL of them good! And worth taking time to examine….
The General Benefits of Walking
BOX ONE:
BENEFITS OF WALKING
RISKS OF WALKING
WALKING IS SAFE, AFFORDABLE AND FUN!
In this era of high tech and expensive exercise equipment, walking is hardly a glamorous activity. However, it's something we all can and should do.
Why? Well, for starters, it's safe. When you walk, you keep your arms below your heart so you aren't straining against gravity.
This type of strain can be very dangerous for an unconditioned heart.
In addition, walking can help you lose weight quicker and it makes you feel better. It has been conclusively shown that patients being treated for depression improved faster if they walked everyday for 30 minutes as opposed to those who did not walk.
Pretty much everyone agrees that walking is good for health. Yet according to recent statistics, over the past 20 years the frequency with which people walk for exercise has dropped by 42%. Over that same period, the number of overweight Americans has increased by 40%. No doubt, American’s lives are complicated and busy and lifestyles have changed. There’s lots of time spent commuting and lots of time sitting in front of television, movie and computer screens. Given the demands of work and family, exercise becomes almost an afterthought, if not a luxury.
We’ve been led to believe that true fitness—hard body fitness, is true healthiness. Yet unless you've been genetically blessed, achieving that look can only happen with a tremendous amount of time and energy investment, Or, more recently, thousands and thousands of dollars spent on surgery.
But the notion that good health requires an hours-a-day investment of brutal conditioning is erroneous, and worse, dangerous. It makes the idea of taking up exercise overwhelming. People opt out altogether or they try quick fixes in the form of diets, diet pills and all manner of exercise contraptions, many of which are advertised in infomercials posing as authoritative, scientifically based programming.
Moderate Exercise… ALWAYS Beneficial!
Studies have shown that moderate exercise performed for about 30 minutes on most days of the week can lower blood pressure, cause weight loss, decrease the risk of developing diabetes and lower the risk of heart attack and stroke. And all those benefits are greater when the lifestyle change includes making sensible food choices and quitting smoking. A number of studies have also shown that people who are overweight who lose just a few pounds can lower their blood pressure. And lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as atherosclerosis (plaque build up in the arteries, particularly the heart’s), kidney disease, even blindness.
"WALK THIS WAY!!!"
|
Well, now that we've absolutely convinced you that walking, in some form or other, is "just what the doctor ordered", it's time to consider and strategize. Like any other exercise, there are different ways to engage in walking. It's not only where, but how, when, how long, how intense, etc. And then there's the issues of form, limb angles, stride, etc. Gee, bet you never thought that such a simple thing could be so complicated. Leave it to a Personal Trainer!!! You'll soon discover just how many options there truly are! |
Frequency
May be done daily, or used as a recovery day for those alternating with other walking workouts.
Benefits
Builds long-term health and well-being. Medical studies have shown an association with walking 30-60 minutes daily with reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, type II diabetes, gall bladder disease. It is a also associated with increased longevity and decreased risk of hip fracture in those over 60.
Procedure
• Start at an easy pace for 5-10 minutes.
• Stop and do a stretching and flexibility routine for 5 minutes.
• Continue, walking at a pace that brings your heart rate up to 50-60% of your maximum heart rate (MHR).
• Walk for 30-60 minutes.
• End with 5 minutes of gentle stretching and flexibility exercises.
Benefits
This workout gets the body to use stored fat for energy. At 60-70% of your maximum heart rate, 85% of your calories burned are fats. Walking faster or slower burns a smaller percentage of fat.
Procedure
Frequency
Once or twice a week.
Benefits
Builds endurance and burns off calories (approximately 100 per mile for 150-pound person.) Those training for longer distance events should build up their mileage steadily. Those training for a 5K or 10K competitive walk should exceed the event distance by a mile or two in their distance workout.
Procedure
• Start at an easy pace for 5-10 minutes.
• Stop and do a stretching and flexibility routine for 5 minutes.
• Resume your walk at a pace that brings your heart rate up to 65-80% of your maximum heart rate (MHR).
Frequency
May do this workout every-other day. On the days in between, do the health walk or the fat-burning walk.
Benefits
Improves aerobic fitness, increasing the number and size of blood vessels in the muscles and increasing your lung capacity. At this intensity, 50% of your calories burned are fats, 1% are proteins and 50% are carbohydrates. The aerobic phase of your workout should be of 50 minutes or less to prevent build-up of lactic acid.
Procedure
• Start at an easy pace for 5-10 minutes.
• Stop and do a stretching and flexibility routine for 5 minutes.
• Continue, walking at a pace that brings your heart rate up to 70-80% of your maximum heart rate (MHR).
Benefits
Increases your athletic performance by bringing your body up to the anaerobic threshold. It is used by race walkers to improve their VO2 Max (the amount of oxygen one can exchange during exercise). Improves endurance at speed.
Procedure
• Start at an easy pace for 5-10 minutes.
• Stop and do a stretching and flexibility routine for 5 minutes.
• Continue, walking at a pace that brings your heart rate up to 80-92% of MHR for no more than 50 minutes.
• This is a fast pace where you are breathing very hard and can only speak in short phrases.
MEDITATION WALK
Walking IS an accepted ancient way of meditation. It is considered as valid a practice as sitting meditation or any other kind of vipassana (insight) meditation. When done with focus and mindfulness, walking meditation is conducive to spiritual development. It is a wonderful opportunity to "disengage" from attachment to problems and dramas, and focus on the "here and now" of body movement and breathing. The same way that Trish and I present load-bearing exercise… with pure focus.
WATCH A CHILD!
If you want to learn the correct form of walking, the best source is right under your nose! Look at the children!
Adults typically develop very stiff and strained walking styles. However, children generally walk with a motion and flexibility that not only is efficient, but actually helps to strengthen and tone the core muscles, and expand range of motion and overall flexibility.
The motion should be fluid, and natural. There should be a slight, or sometimes more exaggerated, counter-rotation between the leg movements and the shoulder movements. In other words, when the left leg goes forward, the right shoulder goes forward, and visa versa.
DO IT YOUR WAY!
Like all other forms and programs of exercise, it is vitally important that YOU choose a manner and style of walking that enhances your fitness, and feels right to you. Experiment. Learn. And explore.
And, remember, dogs and kids (and husbands and wives) need exercise, too. Take one or two of them with you next time!
END