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Walking For Wellness - Walk Your Way To Fitness
& Weight Loss
Walking
for fitness is something almost everyone can and should do. Being
physically fit does not mean that you must be an ultra-marathoner
or even be able to run in general. Walking for fitness promotes
a positive lifestyle and is something you can get your entire family
or friends involved with.
Start out by enlisting your friends, family, or even
coworkers to walk for good health. You can make daily goals or monthly
goals and in between set up goals for your weight loss plans. Walking
can help you shed those unwanted pounds that you have been wanting
to get off and walking can do it just as fast as many other physical
activities and be less harmful and stressful on your joints.
Once you have a friend, family member, or coworker
to help you with your walking goals, all you need is a good pair
of tennis shoes and clothes to walk in and you are all set! Walking
stretches all your muscles and helps promote positive posture too.
Walking for fitness has so many advantages it is best that we go
ahead and list some of the reasons to keep you motivated:
- Improves mood functioning
- Will help you stay strong and fit
- Can help lower your blood pressure
- Lower bad cholesterol and raise the good cholesterol
- Help you manage diabetes and reduce the risk of becoming a
diabetic
All walking takes is 30 minutes out of your day and
these benefits will help keep you physically fit and feeling great.
To really reap the benefits, you want to start out walking at a
slow pace for about five minutes. Once you have warmed your body
up, then start walking at a more brisk pace. This brisk pace will
help start to melt the fat away and will raise your heart rate up
which in turn helps to burn more calories.
Make
sure that you stretch! Stretch before you start your workout and
after your workout. Stretching helps keep your muscles from getting
sore. And no one wants sore muscles. The stretches you should include
are calf stretches, hamstring stretch and the side hamstring stretch,
and lastly the quadriceps stretch.
Once you have walked for 30 minutes, you will want
to have a cool down session. This cool down session should last
as long as the warm up session. Five minutes of cooling down has
many benefits. Some of those benefits include the lowering of your
heart rate and the reduction of stress on your muscles. Don't forget
to do the same stretches you did when warming up, at your cool down
session.
Always check your heart rate. There are many new sports
watches that can check your heart rate while you are working out.
You want your heart rate to stay within your target range. If you
do not have a heart rate watch, check your heart rate manually either
by the wrist or by the neck. You want to keep your heart rate steady
and this means walking at a steady pace.
The benefits of walking outweigh any that I have ever
seen. Even if you cannot start out walking 30 minutes a day, start
with at least 10 minutes and build yourself up. Walking between
30 to 60 minutes a day will help you burn calories and will really
increase your mood. If it is cold outdoors, make sure you bundle
up before heading out. When it is warm, you want to change the type
of clothing you would wear depending on the season. Remember that
you must have a good pair of walking shoes. Find something that
will be comfortable for the long walks, either by yourself, or with
your friends and family.
Set goals! As I stated before, having a goal
is something that can be rewarding when you reach that goal. Once
that goal is achieved, treat yourself to something new or to a nice
healthy meal. Remember that eating healthy is also important when
working out and walking for fitness!
By Christina
Carney
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