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 in.
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 rid of 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 also. 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, 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!
