Walking is a great way to stay in shape, improve cardiovascular fitness, improve your mood and your waistline. Taking your walking outdoors offers a chance to enjoy beautiful weather and walking outside has advantages in that it challenges balance and stability with all of the small obstacles, dodges, starts and stops. Maintaining stabilizing muscles is an advantage for distance walking as well as overall health.
When walking, stand tall – good posture keeps your ears, shoulders and hips in line while you stride. Let your arms swing naturally at your side. As you walk, strike with the heel and roll thru the ball of your foot. Begin your walk with a five minute warmup – an easy walking pace to get your blood flowing and muscles limber. Now that you’re warmed up, pick up your pace up to a brisk stride. Work up to 30 minutes 4-5 days a week.
Once you’ve got your walk on, let’s add some new moves. Use neighborhood mailboxes, street lights or driveways and create target points for these walking challenges. One of my favorite routines is to walk briskly for two mailboxes, intersperse an alternate stride for one mailbox length, walk briskly for two mailboxes, followed by the next alternating stride.
It looks something like this:
- Walk for two mailbox lengths
- Knee Ups for one mailbox length
- Walk for two mailbox lengths
- Lunge Walk for one mailbox length
- Walk for two mailbox lengths
- Shuffle for one mailbox length
- Walk backwards for two mailbox lengths
- Leg kicks for one mailbox length
- Walk for two mailbox lengths
- Knee ups for one mailbox length
- Walk for two mailbox lengths
- Heel curl for one mailbox length
Continue to vary the pattern as building these moves into your next walk will vary the intensity, alternate muscle use patterns, create variety and make your workouts more interesting.
Shuffles, Grapevines, and walking backwards will kick up the cardio benefits, improve posture and are also benficial to your walking program.
Need more ideas for creative walking? Join Team RPC on Tuesday, April 26th at 8am for
Walk This Way!
Meet us in the fitness garden then stride thru the Forest. This walk will be anything but ordinary. Cost $5/person. Bring water and a friend.
Public Invited. Pre-registration necessary.
