Walking to lose

No doubt, walking is a good starting point for a newbie to exercise.   It gets you moving, keeps your heart healthy, and it is easy on the joints.  But taking a stroll around the block after dinner isn’t going to cut it if you’re trying to lose weight.       

When you walk, try increasing your intensity.  Walk briskly,  fast enough that your heart rate increases.    Walk up hills.   Challenge yourself.   Time yourself walking around the neighborhood, and the next day try to beat that time.  The next day beat it again.   Get to the point where you can walk around the neighborhood twice in the time it originally took you to walk it just once.  Then try to make it three times!   That is exactly what I did when I first started exercising.   I was in a race against myself.  :) 

Next, start varying your steps.   Throw in some high knees (lifting your knee up to the waist) as you walk.    Try some kickbacks, lifting your heel up to your bottom with every step.   It sure looks funny, but you will be developing muscle and burning way more calories.  The neighbors will be wondering what has gotten into you!   

Additionally, try increasing the amount of steps that you take each day.  Buy a pedometer (you can find them for a couple of dollars), and put it on when you first get up in the morning, and wear it until you go to bed.   After a few days, you will get a baseline of how many steps you normally take during the day.    Increase that number every day.  Make it into a game, finding new and interesting ways to walk more.   Park further away in a parking lot.   Use the steps instead of the elevator.  Take an extra walk or two.    The goal is to slowly increase the number of steps you take every day until you reach around 10,000 steps.   It is harder then it seems!    

The key is to walk more, and walk briskly.   Doing one without the other won’t significantly help with weight loss.    Eventually, you will get fit enough that walking alone won’t produce the results that you want.    Walking is good for you, but it doesn’t burn very many calories, so when you get in better shape, start throwing in some other cardio/aerobic exercises and weight lifting.     More on this next time!