Walk the walk

[Marshy]

Walking - "as close to a magic bullet as you will find in modern medicine" it says in this article. Get out there!

Walk your way to fitness - Times Online

[startingover]

Walk the walk

How true Marshy, if I didnt walk my dogs each day I think I really would be in a mess...

[greeneyes]

Walk the walk

The link won't work for me, but it has been proven time and again that walking has amazing benefits. Prevention Magazine has always been a huge proponent of walking programs. Walking and water.

[startingover]

Walk the walk

Here you go Greeniebum

It requires no costly gym membership and no personal trainer. It melts away fat and will create the same emotional high as jogging. Little wonder, then, that walking is now the nation’s favourite fitness activity, with the latest results from Sport England’s Active People Survey revealing that one fifth of the adult population regularly heads out for a walk of 30 minutes or longer.

According to exercise scientists and medical experts, walking is the most natural of all workouts. “Human beings are designed to walk,” says John Brewer, Professor of Sport at the University of Bedfordshire. “Biomechanically and physiologically, walking as often as you can is among the best forms of activity to improve fitness and health.”

Certainly, there is no shortage of research to show that a daily walk offers much more than a slimmer waist (although that is a side-effect, too). Walking has been shown to prevent everything from gallstones and strokes to sleep problems and can even help to cut cravings for cigarettes in people trying to give up smoking. Last month the American Association for Cancer Research found that men who walked four or more hours a week had a 23 per cent lower risk of death compared with men who walked less than 20 minutes a week. Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that daily walking for six months had a profound effect on reducing the deep abdominal fat that settles around the vital organs and adds to the risk of heart disease.

Because walking is a weight-bearing exercise, it is also essential in countering the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. “Bones are like muscles in the way that they get stronger and denser the more demands you place on them,” says Lucy Knight, a personal trainer and the author of Walking for Weight Loss (Kyle Cathie). “The pull of a muscle against a bone together with the force of gravity when you walk will stress the bone, which responds by stimulating tissue growth and renewal.” Indeed, so potent are the disease-fighting benefits of daily walking that JoAnn Manson, professor in the department of epidemiology and health at Harvard University, describes it as being “as close to a magic bullet as you will find in modern medicine”. Manson says that “if there was a pill that could lower the risk of chronic disease like walking does then people would be clamouring for it”.

When it comes to aerobic fitness, there is little that surpasses the benefits of a fast-paced power walk. Walking uses the same muscles as running — it strengthens the hamstrings and quadriceps in the thighs, iliopsoas muscles at the front of the hips and the gluteus maximus muscles with each step. But with less shock and impact reverberating through the body, it’s much kinder to the joints. And if one mince pie too many settles on your hips and thighs this festive season, then pledging to walk every day will minimise the adverse effects. Walking burns anything from 148 calories an hour at a dawdle to 360 calories an hour at a 4mph speed-hike. Researchers at the University of Colorado suggest that strolling at a leisurely 2mph was enough to help previously sedentary people to slim down, although if walking is to be the main element of your workout programme then you need to work (or walk) harder.

Brewer says that while 10,000 steps a day (about five miles) is widely reputed to be the target for fitness walking, most of us manage far less. “The average person in the UK tots up about 4,500 steps a day, which is not enough if they are doing no other form of activity,” Brewer says. “In fact, 10,000 steps is considered a minimum level for health maintenance and to get fitter you would need to aim for more than 16,000 daily steps, getting progressively faster or incorporating bursts of speed over time.” Measuring your steps accurately can be tricky. Pedometers are useful, but vary in their accuracy, with a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showing that of about 1,000 pedometers tested only a quarter gave measurements within an acceptable 10 per cent margin of error. “Choose a mid-price pedometer, which should offer all you need,” Brewer says. “Don’t go for anything too high-tech or too basic.”

Varying the walking terrain allows you to get more out of your workout. Softer surfaces, such as mud, sand or grass, will require more energy than concrete or tarmac. Every time your foot hits the ground it creates a small depression so that the leg muscles must work harder to push upwards and forwards for the next step. Physiologists at the Oregon Research Institute found that cobblestone walking, an activity rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, leads to significant reductions in blood pressure and improvements in balance. It is thought that any uneven surface or rocky ground may stimulate acupressure points on the soles of the feet, thereby regulating blood pressure. Add undulating ground or steep hills and your fitness levels will soar.

“On really steep inclines, it’s not unusual even for a fit person’s heart rate to increase by about 20 per cent,” Knight says. “And going downhill you really have to contract your leg muscles to work against gravity and slow your descent.”

Austrian researchers found that downhill walking helped to lower blood glucose levels, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, while uphill trekking lowered triglycerides, important components of cholesterol.

Sarah Tomlinson, a chi walking instructor from Leeds, says that poor technique means that many people fail to reap the benefits they should from walking. “If you over-stride, bend forward too much from the hips or move your head about, it can create pressure and strain throughout the body that slows you down and triggers early-onset fatigue,” she says.

“Keep your abdominal muscles taut, your buttocks relaxed and don’t force your shoulders back too aggressively as it causes tension in the upper body. Keep your leading leg slightly bent and your elbows at a 90-degree angle. Focus your gaze 15 to 20ft ahead.”

Master a good posture and walking is as straightforward as, well, putting one foot in front of the other, she says.

CAN YOU WALK YOUR WAY TO FITNESS?

There are more ways to walk than you might imagine. Here are some of the latest approaches to fitness walking:

Nordic walking Studies at the University of Wisconsin show that, on average, people burn 20 per cent more calories when they use poles. Subjects also increased their upper-body strength by 40 per cent and reduced impact on vulnerable hips, ankles and knees by 26 per cent compared with running.

Health walking Natural England now holds almost 600 “walk for health” groups around the country, designed to get inactive people walking. It also provides details of the National Step-O-Meter programme, which offers free loan of pedometers to NHS patients (Natural England - Home Page). Walking Works, a campaign by the charity Living Streets, has an online calculator to work out how many calories are burnt off walking (www.walking works.org.uk/calculator).

Retro walking Walking backwards burns up to one fifth more calories than forward movement, and produces less impact on joints. It also helps to tone up your hamstrings, which are worked harder going backwards.

Mall walking Called “mallercise” in the US, this was devised by doctors who encouraged cardiac patients to incorporate walking in shopping malls to speed up their rehab. Research shows that Christmas shoppers can cover up to six miles in their efforts to buy presents.

Indoor walking If the cold spell has forced you indoors, console yourself with the fact that treadmills offer a slightly more forgiving surface than the road. But you will need to set the belt at an incline of 1 per cent to simulate the outdoors.

Chi walking An approach that aims to fuse the principles of t’ai chi and good posture with fitness walking. The technique, which can take some mastering, allows practictioners to walk farther without getting tired. To find a good chi walking instructor in your area, consult chiliving.com

[Marshy]

Walk the walk

Well, I walked to the supermarket this morning and nearly broke my bleedin' neck on the ice :H

[beatle]

Walk the walk

Since we're all trying to get somewhere, why not walk? (fast)

[ChickenNumber3]

Walk the walk

Out of sympathy for our new puppy, I have actually had evenings where I have moderated or not drunk at all because I knew the poor little fella needed a walk in the morning! So that in itself is a wonderful help for my health!
Chook

[Raven.joy]

Walk the walk

I walk to work 2 miles each day. It has probably kept me going more than I knew.

[rolypoly]

Walk the walk

Power to the Pups!
My little guy is so distraught, when I don't want to walk with him. Those big brown eyes so plaintive and patient..... so out the door he takes me. He is a powerful incentive in my life..to get out and live. He contributes a great deal to my self-esteem! This wonderful little guy loves me..:l.I must be kind of OK.
I have PTSD and can have a very hard time just going out the door. He really is my best friend.
I've been away from this site a long time..time :naked:to come back.
rolyy

[mama bear]

Walk the walk

Just walked 3200 steps according to my pedometer....10,000 will kill me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But what a beautiful Florida spring day it is!