Since Spring is FINALLY hear, walking outdoors is a great way to get in shape and tone up. Here are some great calorie burning walking routines. Also, studies show that if you walk or run with a stroller you burn 20% more calories. So all you Mama's with young kids get outside for a stroll to burn some serious calories.
Beginners/Intermediate
If you're walking some days of the week for at least 30 minutes, you may be ready to make your routine less routine. Concentrate on increasing distance and speed, gradually working up to 45 minutes.
Speed: Pick up the pace until you're walking a mile in 15 to 18 minutes. (Wear a pedometer, or use your car to measure your route.) To speed up, take faster steps, not longer strides.
Extras: Add extra bursts of speed every 4 minutes to really get your heart rate up. Include hills in your route.
Goal: Set your sights on taking 10,000 steps every day, which adds up to about five miles. You'll take half of those steps just by going about your daily life — grocery shopping, climbing stairs, chasing the kids. The rest, about 2 1/2 miles, you'll need to add by fitness walking.
Posture Perfect: Bend your arms to about 90 degrees. That turns them into shorter, more compact pendulums. You'll be able to swing them faster and thus help your legs and feet move faster. (Just try running with straight arms.)
Advanced
Say you're already getting a rigorous workout by walking and you begin to wonder, How can I up the intensity? You can pick up the pace even more or challenge yourself on harder terrain.
Speed: Speed-walking means setting about a 12-minute-mile pace. Racewalking is even more challenging (for tips on how to do it, see *Posture Perfect, below). Both take concentration. Unless you continually remind your feet to move unnaturally fast, you'll slow down.
Goal: You could walk two miles in 25 minutes at this pace. Or you could keep your workout interesting by following these two strategies:
Intersperse 10 one-minute bursts of speed-walking or racewalking throughout a moderately fast 45-minute walk. Become a hiker. Going up hills is the best intensifie. Even though you may not walk as fast as you could on flat ground, you'll boost your workout substantially. And because you're moving up and down in addition to forward, your calf and thigh muscles will develop more tone.
*Posture Perfect: To visualize racewalking, think of children running around a pool and being told by the lifeguard to walk, not run; Imagine their upright posture, quick steps, fairly straight legs, and bent arms. And take fast steps: World-class female racewalkers maintain a blistering 200-steps-per-minute pace (or a 7- to 7.5-minute mile) for 12 miles.
Speed: Speed-walking means setting about a 12-minute-mile pace. Racewalking is even more challenging (for tips on how to do it, see *Posture Perfect, below). Both take concentration. Unless you continually remind your feet to move unnaturally fast, you'll slow down.
Goal: You could walk two miles in 25 minutes at this pace. Or you could keep your workout interesting by following these two strategies:
*Posture Perfect: To visualize racewalking, think of children running around a pool and being told by the lifeguard to walk, not run; Imagine their upright posture, quick steps, fairly straight legs, and bent arms. And take fast steps: World-class female racewalkers maintain a blistering 200-steps-per-minute pace (or a 7- to 7.5-minute mile) for 12 miles.
Walking Workouts from Real Simple
And from Mark Fenton, the author of The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness
No comments:
Post a Comment