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Fitness Walking For Dummies
By Liz Neporent, M.A.
About Fitness Walking For Dummies
Call it power walking, fitness walking, or just plain walking. Indoors or out, walking is one of the healthiest and most rewarding forms of exercise available to all sorts of people, young and old. In fact, walking burns about the same number of calories per mile as running (and it's a lot easier on your knees). Walking is one of the most adaptable workout activities around - you can walk for an hour straight to make your walking program effective and to achieve your goals, or you can accumulate this hour over the course of a day.
Fitness Walking For Dummies is for anyone who wants to start an exercise program but may not have the knowledge or motivation to do it. If you're already a walking fanatic, you'll find out how to become a better fitness walker. This easy-to-understand guide is also for those who are on track to
- Lose weight
- Decrease blood pressure
- Control cholesterol
- Relieve stress
- Prevent heart disease
- Deal with depression
Explore what it takes to begin an exercise program by setting goals, choosing shoes, and considering nutrition to optimize your workout. Fitness Walking For Dummies also covers the following topics and more:
- Warm-up and cool-down routines
- Strength training
- The four levels of walking: Lifestyle, Fitness, High-Energy, Walk-Run
- Weight-training routines and stretches that add variety
- Buying and using a treadmill
- Age, pregnancy, and walking with your dog
- Dealing with pain and injuries
Like 67 million other people in the United States who log over 201 million miles a year, you want to take advantage of all of the great things a regular walking program can do for you. Whether your goal is to improve your health or your appearance, lose weight, get stronger, feel good about yourself, or all of the above, walking can help you get to where you want to go. This book can help you do that by showing you everything you need to know about starting and maintaining a walking program.
Excerpt From Chapter 3: Getting In Gear
Remember those sneakers you used to wear as a kid? Well, put those out of your mind. Going into a store and asking to see sneakers is like asking which aisle the gramophones and eight-track tapes are in. Any sales clerk under age 30 is going to assume you have a weird accent and direct you toward the "Snickers" bars in the candy department. Nowadays the shoes you walk in are called athletic shoes or, more precisely, walking shoes.
The good news is that the name change has done walking shoes a world of good. they really are better than the canvas footwear you used to wear to run faster and jump higher. A lot of technology has gone into them that unequivocally helps you improve your performance and avert injury.
Before you go shoe shopping, take the time to educate yourself. "Walking shoe" isn't the only bit of jargon your salesperson is going to throw at you. For instance, she may ask whether you over-pronate or supinate. She'll want to know if you prefer a wider toe box, more padding in the toe box and if you need a board-lasted or combination-lasted shoe. Sound complicated?
Nor really. I cover all these terms in this chapter, and I promised that after you get the lingo down pat and find out how to evaluate your needs, purchasing a perfect pair or walking shoes is a cinch.
Excerpt From Chapter 10: Walk-Run
Running has always had an elitist reputation. Many of my new clients tell me that running is the only exercise that ever gets them into shape. When I recommend that my clients start with walking, I often see the skepticism in their eyes. When I tell them that they can stick with walking and gain top-notch fitness without ever running a step, they really think I'm nuts. They just don't believe that walking can get them into shape.
Because some walkers do feel that they want to run at least some of the time, I dedicate this entire chapter to an activity known as walk-run. Walk-run is exactly what it sounds like: a workout in which you alternate walking and running. In fact, walk-run ins gaining popularity among exercisers and is becoming a phenomenon in its own right. A few companies even make a special shoe designed for those who walk-run.
This chapter tells you everything you need to know about safely including walk-run into your routine. However, walk-run is an optional walking workout. If you never so much as break into a job, you can still get into great shape by exercising at all other levels of walking and with other types of workouts described throughout this book. However, you may want to try walk-run because it's fun and because it's another way to add variety to your workouts.
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