Becoming a fitness walker can be fun. Here's how to do it

The greatest number of walkers walk just to walk, suggests Mark Fenton, editor-at-large for Walking magazine. "They like being outdoors," he says. "They like getting some exercise and improving their health. At the other end of the scale are racewalkers, those hip-swinging, elbow-pumping, glory-seeking individuals who have as a goal a place on the Olympic team, or at least a medal at their local walking race.

Fenton believes, however, that an additional class of walkers exists between these two extremes. These are the individuals who seek not merely health benefits but also physical fitness. They dress like athletes, not like someone out for a stroll. They walk tall, eyes forward. They take quick steps. They push off on their toes. Whether or not they swing their hips, many bend their arms and look (somewhat) like racewalkers. They probably don't compete, but walking to them is a way of life, a discipline to be pursued with some vigor–and enjoyment.

They have been described by various reporters as aerobic walkers, striders, and power walkers. Fenton prefers to use the term fitness walkers. He even incorporated that label into the title of a book he wrote with fellow Walking editor Seth Bauer, The 90-Day Fitness Walking Program.

"You'll get some health benefits by going out and walking at any pace, any distance, whenever you can catch time away from your work or other duties," Fenton says. "But all the scientific research proves rather conclusively that you can attain a much higher level of conditioning and well-being if you actually train to improve your aerobic fitness. Every tenth of a liter of aerobic capacity that you can cram into your body by walking farther and faster is going to increase your health and longevity as well.

Quick Steps

Fenton believes one thing that separates fitness walkers from ordinary walkers (other than walking tall and bending the arms) is cadence: taking quicker steps. "Not shorter steps, but quicker steps," he says. "It's natural for your stride to lengthen a bit as you speed up, but frequency is important, too, although it's overlooked by most walkers."

Fenton preaches consistency over speed. "In seeking consistency," he says, "it is most important that walking becomes a regular habit, not something you do on the weekends or when the weather is good. The fitness walker must make a positive commitment to exercise a certain number of days a week over a specific distance or length of time, even if some of those days show fairly modest efforts." He suggests that easier days can be used when other duties demand your time.

Once you have become accustomed to a regular pattern of workouts (as opposed to merely walks), you can achieve a higher level of physical fitness not merely by increasing the distance of the workouts but also by varying the distance from day to day. "You don't always need to walk the same course or the same distance," Fenton says. "Perhaps once or twice a week, set aside time for slightly longer walks, or much longer ones on the weekends." If your goal is losing weight, the more you walk the more calories you'll burn. Walking, like running, burns approximately 100 calories for every mile covered.

One way to ensure success is to build some competition into your fastest walks. Or train for a "running" race where you start in the back and don't worry about your time compared to those around you. "You don't need to try to win," Fenton advises. "Merely being part of a racing environment with large numbers of other fitness-minded individuals will guarantee that you get a good workout." Most runners consider walkers their equals, regardless of when they cross the finish line.

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Adapted from Hal Higdon's How To Train

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It’s the middle of winter and if you live somewhere with a “real” winter (ie: NOT Florida) it’s probably cold outside. It’s normal to want to hibernate when the temps drop, but you don’t have to let the weather ruin your walking or running program.

In fact, walking or running outside in the winter can be extremely invigorating for both your body and mind. All you need to do is take a few extra precautions to make sure you’re protected from the cold.

8 Tips for Winter Walking and Running

1. Add traction to your running or walking shoes. If you’ll be walking or running on icy sidewalks or snowy streets, invest in a pair of lightweight YakTrax to ensure your safety. YakTrax have coils that easily attach to the bottom of your shoe with a rubber-like frame and provide traction on ice and snow.

2. Layer up. Invest in some layered fitness clothing. You’ll want a moisture-wicking breathable bottom layer, an insulating mid layer and a water/wind proof outerlayer (depending on conditions). Consult this Layering Guide for in-depth layering advice.

3. Protect your head. A lot of body heat escapes through your head so be sure you’re wearing an insulating breathable hat or headband to at least protect your ears.

4. Protect your hands and feet. Fingers and toes are the first parts of your body to succumb to frostbite so be sure you’re wearing gloves and warm, moisture-wicking socks when walking or running in freezing temperatures.

5. Warm up inside before heading out. Warm your body up and get your blood pumping before you head outdoors to protect your heart (when you warm up in freezing temps, it’s hard on your heart and can cause angina or heart failure).

6. If you have asthma or respiratory difficulties, frigid air can wreak havoc on your breathing. Carry your inhaler and wear a bandana or scarf over your nose and mouth to warm the air before you breathe.

7. Don’t forget the sunscreen. While it may not seem to be much UV danger in the winter, if you’re out walking for any length of time your face could burn (especially if there’s a lot of snow on the ground to reflect the sun).

8. Use trekking poles. To burn more calories while walking and to stabilize your gait, try a pair of trekking poles. Improve your balance and posture and reduce stress on your joints by adding trekking poles to your winter workout.

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Facts about a Walking Marathon

A marathon is 26.2 miles, and often are reserved for runners. However, many marathons and half-marathons (13 miles) are beginning to welcome walkers as well. Check for events in your area that allow walkers to participate.

First Steps

You've probably heard you should check with your doctor before starting a fitness program, and that advice is especially important when training for such a long distance event. Walking long distances can put enormous amounts of strain on your body, particularly if you're relatively out-of shape. It's important to talk with your doctor about your exercise program and any health concerns you have before beginning.

After getting your doctor's approval, you'll need comfortable shoes and clothes. Don't skimp on shoes – this is not the time to pick up a pair at your local discount store. You need a shoe that fits well and that provides good support and that is designed for walking. Try the shoe on in the afternoon, when your feet are probably their largest of the day, and wear the same types of socks you'll be walking in.

When you're still walking short distances, you should be able to wear sports socks and clothing for your walks. As your distance increases, however, you'll want to invest in some socks designed to prevent blisters. On your long walk days, you may want to carry blister tape along with you just in case. Many walkers have good results with lubricants designed for runners. Keeping areas of your feet that are prone to blisters lubricated will help prevent blistering.

As for clothing, if you walk in particularly hot or cold weather, you'll need to take care not to overheat or get too cold. Visit a sporting goods store to purchase moisture wicking clothing that is suitable for your climate.

Finally, you'll need a pedometer. You can get a simple one that only counts steps for around $5-10, or you can pay as much as $50 or more for a more complex model. Regardless of the one you choose, you'll need to track your distance each walking day.

How Far is Too Far?

Even if you're out-of-shape, you'll be able to follow a marathon training program if you allow yourself time to work up to the longer distances. For your first walking week, plan on walking five days at a comfortable distance each day. Many walkers plan on resting one weekend day and one week day. Your weekend walking day will eventually become your long-distance walking day.

Let's say you're able to do only one mile comfortably for the first week. Your second week might look like this.

Monday: 1 mile
Tuesday: 1 mile
Wednesday: 1 mile
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 1 mile
Saturday: 1.5 to 2 miles
Sunday: Rest

You'll gradually increase your weekday walks and your weekend walk until you're walking approximately three to six miles on weekdays and up to 18 to 20 miles on your long distance day.

Avoiding Injury

The most important thing you can do to avoid injury is to increase your distance gradually. Once you've established what distance you're initially comfortable walking, you should increase your weekly distance by no more than 10 percent at a time. So if you complete five miles your first week, on your second week you should complete no more than five and a half miles. The next week, you'll complete no more than six miles, and so on.

Gradually increase your distance until you're walking about thirty miles per week. If you experience any physical discomfort, you should decrease your distance temporarily and visit your doctor if it continues.

Another technique for avoiding injury is allowing yourself time to stretch, warm up, and cool down. Stretching your muscles will prevent injury, as will beginning your walks at a slower pace and slowly increasing your speed until you've reached your walking pace. Slowing at the end of your walk will help your body adjust to the reduction in effort and aid in reducing muscle soreness.

Other Tips for Success

Stay well hydrated while walking. This is especially important in warm weather and on your long distance days, but you should develop a habit of carrying some water with you.

On your long distance days, take a high-quality snack along. Nuts and raisins are easy to carry and provide a quick energy boost for those long walks.

Consider walking a half-marathon (about thirteen miles) when you're able to walk ten miles relatively easily on your long distance days. Most marathons and half-marathons have time limits, so later in your training you'll need to consider your speed as well as your distance to ensure that you can finish within the time allotted. It will give you an opportunity to see how your body reacts to the demands of a marathon, and you'll have the experience and success to continue to motivate you through your training.

The Big Day

Reduce the length of your walks two to three weeks before the date of the marathon or half-marathon. Your weekday walks should fall to three or four miles each, and your weekend walks should be reduced to twelve miles or so each for a full marathon. Your body will need time to rest before attempting the full distance.

Don't eat anything unusual the day before or the day of the marathon. You run the risk of having something "disagree" with you, and stomach problems will almost certainly prevent your finishing the event. Instead, eat a healthy meal that includes protein and complex carbohydrates. Chicken, fish, and whole grains are good choices.

If the race offers sports drinks and water, try alternating between the two at hydrating stations. Too much of the sports drinks can cause stomach upset, but a little will help to keep your energy up.

Carry some snacks, runner's lubricant and blister tape along with you. Don't buy brand new shoes for the event – this is not the time to break them in. Your shoes should be relatively new, but you should have walked two or three weeks in them to ensure that they'll be comfortable and not cause any chafing.

Remember that you've trained and planned for this day for weeks, or even months. The marathon will be a challenge, but it's one that you can overcome.

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Have you always wanted to be as fit as an athlete
but did not know how?
Here are some great tips on walking fitness
that will really help you!

Do you ever wish that you could get in better shape, tone those muscles, lose some weight and achieve better health?

Fitness walking is an excellent way to do this; however, without the right tools and information, it could take you years to figure out the secrets to successful walking fitness. Instead of spending a fortune on so-called experts or knocking yourself out with the old trial and error method, there is an easier way to learn how to fitness walk the way you’ve always dreamed.

A few years ago, after a health scare, I knew I needed to get in better shape. Fitness walking seemed to be a great option; however, I didn’t have a clue where or how to start.

With my health on the line; however, I knew I had to do something.

What I discovered completely changed the way I approached walking fitness! Now I walk for fitness all the time and love every minute of it.

How did I do it?

I would love to share my secrets with you and my new special report on walking fitness does just that!

Introducing …

Walking for Fitness!

Everything you need to know about walking fitness is included in this special report:

The Power of Walking Fitness

What Equipment Do I Need?

How Should I Start?

Why Fitness Walking can Help You

How to Fit Fitness Walking in your Schedule

I leave absolutely nothing out! Everything that I learned in order to gain the most benefits from fitness walking, I show you

This is the most comprehensive report on walking fitness you will ever read! This comprehensive special report covers the following topics:

How Fitness Walking Reduces the Risk of Disease

How Fitness Walking Improves the Mind

Fitness Walking for Weight Loss

No stone is left unturned in this comprehensive report!

You won’t want to miss out on this!

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STEPS

1. Choose a pair of good shoes. It can protect your feet and make it feel much more comfortable.
2. Find a nice place. It is very important to find a flat ground for walk or you will get tired easily. If you don’t know where to go, go to the nearest school.
3. Extend your steps as large as you can. It can help you move quickly.
4. Wave your arms naturally. It can increase your body eurhythmic.
5. Think as though you are rushing. Always think as though you are cold and trying to warm up with friction.
6. Practice walking fast to increase your speed.
7. To Power walk, take big steps and swing your arms up (should be in a L shape) and flex your hands pointing up for speed.

TIPS

• You can listen to music when you walk.
• Wear large or stretchable pants so it's easier to take longer steps.
• Relax yourself.
• On weekends or holidays, try to increase your walking time to an hour or more.

WARNINGS

• Don’t do it too slowly.
• Wear simple clothing.
• Remember not to run. The technical rule for walking is to always have at least one foot touching the ground at all times.

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Up and about: Jeannette Sykes was told she would never walk again – but astonished doctors by taking steps in just four weeks

A woman who broke her neck in a trampoline accident has issued a warning to others about the equipment.

With summer fast approaching and the number of home trampolines soaring, Jeanette Sykes urged children to play safely.

Miss Sykes, 39, thought she would be in a wheelchair for life after the accident during a barbecue at a friend's house.

She had been jumping with another person, who stopped moving to talk to someone. Miss Sykes twisted awkwardly and fell.

Doctors told her she would be paralysed, but with the help of a revolutionary piece of equipment she learned to walk again.

She said: "I would never have dreamed something like this can happen on a trampoline. You think you're safe because you are jumping on a soft surface." Miss Sykes said that it was too easy for families to buy a trampoline and put it in the garden without being made aware of the dangers.

She said they should really only be used in gyms under supervision.

"I see they make trampolines with nets around them now but a net would not have saved me," she said. "It's providing a false sense of security.

"I don't want to be a killjoy but they really are that dangerous. I am living proof of that." Scroll down for more…

Help: Jeannette Sykes on a £155,000 robotic device which aids walking by removing weight

After the accident in July 2006, Miss Sykes endured a risky operation where doctors inserted screws to support the fracture in her neck.

She then had five months of rehabilitation in the Spinal Injuries Centre at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Then the hospital decided to try her on a piece of equipment it was testing, the Lokomat.

The machine is a Swiss-made robotic harness on a treadmill which allows the patient to walk without the weight of the body and improves mobility. Miss Sykes, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was one of the first in the country to use one. Just four weeks later she was able to walk short distances using crutches.

Two years on she is still unable to return to the hairdressing career she worked at for 18 years, but can walk around unaided.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Roger Vincent, said injuries from trampoline accidents had increased 50 per cent over a five-year period.

He said: "There has been a boom in the number of garden trampolines in the UK and you can buy them everywhere.

"They can be a lot of fun and I don't want to be all doom and gloom but they can be very dangerous if the safety guidelines they are sold with are not followed and respected.

"We recommend that only one person should ever use the trampoline at a time, that it comes with proper safety pads and that it is placed on a soft surface in a clear area."

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The locals did a test, if the driving speed is 3 mph, you’re going about 1.39 meter per second, which is close to an adult’s normal walking speed.

So be careful walking there as you might get a speeding ticket from the local police.

Source

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