Walk yourself fit

Want to get fit, healthy and feel on top of the world? Then it’s time to lace up those walking shoes.

When it comes to exercise, walking is just about perfect. You can do it anywhere and any time, it requires minimal gear, it’s free and it’s fun. And, best of all, it can help you to get slim, strong and super-fit.

“It comes as a surprise to some people, but regular walkers get results,” says Steve Lawrence, a personal trainer at Sydney’s City Gym. “Walkers get toned, they lose weight and, because walking releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones, walkers are less stressed.”

If you’d like to walk yourself fit and fabulous, there are a few basic rules you need to follow. First of all you need to walk with good form. That means standing tall, with shoulders relaxed and your abdominal (belly) muscles slightly pulled in. Your chin should be slightly up to ensure you’re looking forward, not down. With each step your foot should land firmly, heel first. You should then roll through to the ball of your foot and push off with your toes.

The second rule is to wear shoes specifically designed for walking. Choose styles that are flexible, to allow you freedom of movement, but still provide plenty of support, particularly around the heels, which bear most of your weight when walking.

The third, and possibly most important, rule is don’t overdo it. The idea behind a walking program is that you get fit and healthy, but you enjoy yourself at the same time. “There is no rush to do too much too quickly,” says Dr Rick Kausman, weight management and eating disorder specialist and author of If Not Dieting, Then What? (Allen & Unwin, 2004). “It’s important to set realistic goals and to have realistic expectations. For many of us, being fit for living is a much more appropriate outcome of increasing our activity than being fit to run a marathon. Don’t feel you have to increase the amount of activity you’re doing each day, each week, or even each month.”

Try starting your walking program with a daily 10 to 20-minute stroll. As your fitness increases, lengthen your workout by two to three minutes each week. Soon, you’ll find walking 30 to 45 minutes five times a week a breeze. Then, there’ll be no stopping you.

Making it happen
So, how far should you walk and how often? Well, that depends on your goals. Do you want to improve your health, lose weight or perhaps increase fitness? Each goal requires a slightly different approach. Once you’ve made your decision see below for a program designed just for you.

Walking for good health
Both the Australian Heart Foundation and The Cancer Council Australia recommend that we walk for 30 minutes most days. Research has shown that this significantly lowers our risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer. Remember, there’s no need to do your workout in one big hit. Three 10-minute bouts of exercise is just as effective. As for how hard to push yourself, that’s up to you.

Walking for weight loss
If your aim is to lose half a kilogram a week, you need to create a 15,000-kilojoule deficit. That means you need to burn up 15,000 more kilojoules than you eat. A half-hour walk only burns up about 500 kilojoules. So, if you want to burn up 15,000 kilojoules, you’re looking at a whopping two-hour walk daily! If you don’t have the time (or the inclination) for that, cut back 1,000 kilojoules per day by watching what you eat and walk for 45 minutes, five or six days of the week. To lose fat, aim to walk at a pace during which you can talk comfortably, but not belt out a tune.

Walking for fitness
To increase fitness you need to commit to walking five days a week. On three of those days you should aim to walk for 45 minutes. On the other two days you need to walk for an hour or more. On the shorter walks, aim for an RPE of seven. (RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion, with one being a gentle stroll and 10 a lung-busting sprint.) Drop back to an RPE of five or six on the longer walks. If you really want to push yourself, do some interval training. On one of the shorter walks, crank up the pace for 30 seconds, then ease back for two minutes while you recover. Then do it again. And again. And, well you get the picture.

Staying warm, keeping cool
The Australian Institute of Sport recomm-ends you ease into your workout with a warm-up. About five minutes of gentle aerobic exercise should do the trick. Warming up increases the temperature in your muscles and tendons (the tissues that connect muscle to bone) and ligaments (the tissues that connect bone to bone). Warmer muscles and joints are more pliable and so less likely to tear. Warming up also helps redirect your blood flow to the muscles that you’re going to exercise, which gives you more stamina by providing your muscles with more nutrients and oxygen. And don’t forget to cool down post workout; this will give your body the chance to get blood flow back to normal.

Stretching program
All that walking will do you the world of good, but it might also make you sore, particularly in the lower body. To ease those aches and pains, ensure you stretch every time you work out. Do your stretching when muscles are warm – that means after a warm up or at the end of your workout. Hold each move for 10 counts, and remember that stretching should cause a mild tension only, not pain.

Calf stretch: Stand about half a metre from a wall, ankles together. Place your palms on the wall and lean forward from your ankles, keeping your heels pressed
to the floor.

Hamstring (back of thigh) stretch: Stand with your left foot slightly in front of your right, left toes raised. Bend your right knee, lean forward from your hips and rest both palms on your right thigh for balance. Swap legs.

Quad (front of thigh) stretch: Bend your left leg, bringing your heel towards your bottom. Grasp your left foot with your right hand. Hold on to a chair, the wall
or a park bench for balance. Swap legs.

Words: Kelly Baker. Photography: Steven Chee. Hair & make-up: Laura Dominique.