Healthy Cardio Activity – Walking and Power Walking
One of the most common forms of exercise/activity is walking. Walking is great cardio exercise, plus it relieves stress. To walk, you just need a comfortable pair of shoes with arch support. Most well-known brands of tennis shoes such as nike, rebock, new balance, adidas, puma, and converse, have foot support. Many have a style called a walking shoe made to give your feet the support and cushioning needed.
The set number of steps said to be the healthy average daily amount is 10,000 steps. This is about 3-4 miles a day. If you are going to take your walking seriously, you will need a good pedometer. I have bought several brands and find that most of them are not worth the money spent. The $10 ones are pitiful as every time you jiggle them a little they count steps. I once walked 100 steps while DRIVING 8 miles home from work. Similar ones cost a little more – the last one I purchased was $30 – and you’d think they were better. I walked 7 steps putting it on my waist band. This one would be good if you were going walking if you put it on your waist band and then cleared it. It would count the steps you took, which you could then record. But it is useless for all day wear.
I researched until I found one that I can carry in my purse or pocket, or hook it on the waist band, which would accurately count the steps no matter what activity I was doing that day. The brand is OMRON. The one I purchased cost $35 at the time and was an excellent investment. You enter your weight, the time, and your step length in inches. It tracks your steps, your aerobic steps, calories burned, and miles walked. And it keeps the record for 7 days. It even starts a new day at midnight.
I put my pedometer on when I get out of bed, and take it off when I go to bed. It counts every step during the day. Your steps add up faster than you think. When I started, I kept track of the number of steps I do normally during the day for an entire week. Then I averaged them (added the 7 steps a day and then divided by 7) for my standard or starting point. From there, I decided how many steps I wanted to increase my walking by per day. The end of the next week I averaged them again to see if I met my goal. Up it each week until you get to 10,000 steps averaged a day.
As for speed, walk at a speed that is comfortable for you. As you become more and more used to walking, increase your speed. As you become more accustomed to walking at a brisk walk, start ‘power walking’. This mainly just means to bend your arms at the elbow to a 90 degree angle and swing them rather than letting them hang down by your side. I think of it as a jogging position without jogging – just walking briskly. To increase your calories burned, you can add wrist and/or ankle weights. Starting with 2 pounds is a good idea. You can increase the weight later.
There are walking tapes, cds, and dvds you can put in what used to be called a ‘walkman’ – basically a portable player with ear phones. You can listen to these tapes as you walk. The beat of the music helps you to keep walking at a steady pace.
Walking outside is wonderful – unless there is a thunderstorm, a snow storm, or above 100 degrees F or under 10 degrees F. Or if you have allergies (you get my drift, right?). On those days you can go to a shopping mall and walk the mall, or an inside track at a gym. There are tapes and DVD’s which have walking and powerwalking programs. Most of these will have markers as which time they will announce how far you have ‘walked’. The one I have gives the distance at every 1/2 mile.
Walking is an exercise nearly everyone can do, and do without buying special equipment. I do recommend that you get a good pair of walking shoes and a good pedometer. The pedometer I like the best and that I have used for over a year is Omron Premium Pedometer.