Walking

walking 1 mile burns only like 80-100 calories
eating 100 calories less and not walking does same thing

Yeah, but it does absolutely nothing for your muscles; and I find that walking makes me feel like I'm doing SOMETHING, which in turn makes me feel better about myself:D
 
Walking plan

Hello :). I just got some really good running shoes, so I could start going out and exercising. I used to be athletic when I was younger, before I became very lazy and got fat. I was wondering how long I should walk everyday? I haven't exercised in many years, and I wanted to start walking, and then jogging. I used to love to run when I was younger, and was the fastest kid in my neighborhood..and I think I could start running again someday. Can someone help me out with a walking/jogging plan?

How long I should walk a day, and how many months I should walk to condition myself before I start jogging, those kind of things! If anyone can help!

(I really like my new shoes, and can't wait to start breaking them in ;))
 
Hello and welcome! Walking is an awesome way to lose weight.
That is my main method and I have lost 60 lbs so far.I started
with a mile or mile in a 1/2 and every week or other week depends
on how your doing and if your ready up it a 1/2 to a mile everyweek
or other week! You can do it.I heard from several people, fast pace
walking is the best because jogging is bad on the joints ankles ect, and walking at a fast pace you get same results.Good Luck Tammy:D
 
Walking it's the best exercise...

Walking take you breath away is bad because you'll begin to burn carbs instead fat. Walk fast until you feel fine. Walk 30 minutes twice a day or 45 minutes once a day.

I have lost 10 kg (22) lbs in 4 months without diet.

I just begin the "Diet Proof Idiots" because you choose your meals, there is not quantity restriction and you can eat 4 meals a day. There is not Low Carbs, Low Calories and Not Low fat.

This diet is based on The Shifting Calories Theory. If you are interested, you can visit my site.

Alberto Martinez
 
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The Walking Plan

Walking is an ideal form of exercise for many reasons. You don't need special equipment to do it, it can be done by almost anyone, and you can do it almost anywhere! As an added bonus, there are numerous health benefits from starting a regular walking program:

Good for your heart: Walking regularly can result in a reduction of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, both of which contribute to heart disease.
Improves balance: This can help lower your risk of falls. This risk increases as we get older.
Strengthens bones and joints: Walking is easier on your joints than running or aerobics (which are high impact activities). It also reduces your risk for osteoporosis.
Weight control, more energy, better sleep: All benefits of a regular physical activity program.

If you are new to exercise, there are some important health tips which will get you started on the right foot:

  • Always check with your doctor before starting an exercise program. He or she may require a physical exam or special instructions based on your medical history.
  • Don't overdo this program if you are a beginning exerciser. Let your body adjust to the new activity.
  • For the first few weeks, do not push too hard. Your breathing should be elevated, but you should not be gasping for air. A good rule of thumb is the "talk test"- if you cannot answer a question, you are walking too fast. If you can have a full conversation you are walking too slow.
  • Walking shouldn't hurt. If it does, see your family physician.
  • Try to walk at least 3 times each week of the program. If you find a particular week's pattern too tiring, repeat it before going on to the next week. You don't have to complete the program in 12 weeks.
  • Wear a watch so you can monitor the time spent walking. You can also wear a pedometer to keep track of distance. Pedometers can be found at most major retailers (Target, Wal Mart, etc.) for as little as $5.00
 
Beginner Program

(Beginner)

This is a great introductory program if you want to slowly increase your time spent walking. Each week builds on the previous one. If you find a particular week’s pattern too tiring, repeat it before going on to the next week. You don’t have to complete the program in 12 weeks.

A Heart Healthy Program
(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 1
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 5 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 15 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 2
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 7 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 17 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR]Week 3
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 9 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 19 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 4
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 11 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 21 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3
[/B]
(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 5
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 13 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 23 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 6
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 15 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 25 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 7
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 18 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 28 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 8
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 20 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 30 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 9
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 23 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 33 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 10
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 26 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 36 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 11
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 28 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 38 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3

(Beginner)[/COLOR][/B]Week 12
Warm Up: 5 minutes
(min) Brisk Walking 30 minutes
(min) Cool Down 5 minutes
(min) Total Exercise Time 40 minutes

Number of days/wk: 3
 
Intermediate Workout

INtermediate Workout
This program starts with a longer walk than the beginner program and builds to a higher level. It also increases the number of days/week from 3 up to as many as 5. If you find a particular week’s pattern too tiring, repeat it before going on to the next week. You don’t have to complete the program in 12 weeks

Week 1
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 10 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 20

Number of days/wk 3

Week 2
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 15 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 25

Number of days/wk 4

Week 3
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 20 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 30

Number of days/wk 4

Week 4
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 20 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 30

Number of days/wk 4 - 5

Week 5
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 25 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 35

Number of days/wk 4

Week 6
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 30 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 40

Number of days/wk 4

Week 7
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 30 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 40

Number of days/wk 4 - 5

Week 8
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 35 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 35

Number of days/wk 5

Week 9
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 40 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 40

Number of days/wk 4

Week 10
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 40 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 50

Number of days/wk 4 - 5

Week 11
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 45 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 55

Number of days/wk 4

Week 12
Warm Up 5 (min)
Brisk Walking 45 (min)
Cool Down 5 (min)
Total Exercise Time 55

Number of days/wk 4 - 5
 
Walking Safety

Walking Safety
Walking outside is an energetic way to enjoy the fresh air and get a workout at the same time! Before you lace up those sneakers, here are some important safety tips you’ll want to consider:
  • Find a buddy: Walking with someone can be a great motivator and make the time more enjoyable. In addition, there is always safety in numbers. If you do have to walk alone, make sure you tell someone your route and the time you expect to return.
  • Wear reflective gear: If you will be out during the early morning or evening, wear light colored clothing or reflectors. A warm up suit with reflective strips, walking shoes with reflective material on the heel or a reflective belt (available at most sporting goods stores) will all make you more visible to oncoming traffic. Also try to walk on well-lit streets if possible.
  • Walk facing the traffic: Especially if there are no sidewalks or pathways on your route, the “rules of the road” say you should walk against the traffic. This also keeps you aware of any potential danger coming towards you.
  • Vary your route: This is for safety as well as enjoyment. It is much more interesting to experience different surroundings from time to time. This also prevents anyone from memorizing your route and perhaps knowing the best time to approach you.
  • Beware of drivers: Do not assume that drivers know when pedestrians have the “right of way.” Be especially cautious of driveways- most drivers are watching for oncoming cars, not walkers.
  • Be aware of your surroundings: Watch for ice, water, bike riders, cracks in the pavement, or any other hazards in your path. It can be very easy to trip and fall without warning, which can be especially dangerous if you are alone.
  • What to bring: It is a good idea to carry pepper spray, a cell phone or an alarm in case you get into trouble. It can also be helpful to carry a walking stick or umbrella in case you need to fend off an unleashed dog. Maybe bring a dog of your own as a companion and for safety. Always have your I.D. with you in the event that you become disabled.
  • What not to bring: Do not wear any jewelry that might draw someone’s attention. Do not wear headphones- they can prevent you from hearing oncoming traffic or someone coming up behind you. You should always be aware of what is happening in your environment.
With a few easy changes, you’ll make your walking experience as safe and enjoyable as possible.
 
Workout Tips

Workout Tips
While these walking programs can be exciting and challenging at first, you don’t want to fall into a “rut” by doing the same thing month after month. Here are some ways to add variety to your workouts!
  • Add an incline: Even adding a moderate grade hill can significantly boost your energy expenditure.
    • On a treadmill, start with the incline at 2% and add 1% every few weeks. You could get to the point where the incline is too large to keep proper form. If that happens, bring it back down to a more comfortable level.
      Outside, vary your route to include more hills. The change of route will keep you from getting bored and the hills will increase the intensity of your workout.
  • Speed Walking: Pump your arms (at a 90 degree angle) vigorously as you speed up your pace. Arms should move front to back and not side to side (commonly referred to as “chicken wings”). You can burn 5-10% extra calories by adding your arms into the workout! Practice this technique over short distances until you can build up your time and speed, being sure to breathe properly the entire time.
  • Water Walking: Walking in the water (waist high and above) can be harder than it looks! The water’s resistance makes walking much more challenging. Plus, it’s easy on the joints!
    • In the shallow end, try walking the length of the pool (don’t forget to use your arms!). Go as quickly as possible for 10 seconds, then slower for a 1 minute recovery. Start with 5 sets and build from there, alternating forward and backward. Be sure to walk all the way through your foot (toe and heel).
      In the deep end, strap on a flotation belt to do your exercise. You can do the same exercise as above or vary it depending on your ability and preference (more or less “quick bursts”, long/short steps, changing direction, etc.).
  • Take your dog: Fido will ensure you are walking at a good pace! For an average person, if the dog is trotting you are probably in your target speed range. Be careful- if Fido tends to pull a lot, it might be dangerous for him to come along!
  • Vary your days/week: Start your program by walking 3 times/week, building up to 4 or 5 times a week for an extra challenge!
 
Walking in a pattern?

I would like to say hi and that I'm still new to these forums and just have a quick question. Over the past week I have been walking over a small area inside in a V shape pattern at about a 3MPH pace, for an hour a day. What I do is start at the top right of the V, walk backwards to where the 2 lines connect, then walk up the line opposite of which I started. Then going backwards again and forward to the other side. I'm curious if this is just as effective as walking in a straight line at the same pace? Reason I'm wondering is because when you stop walking forward and start to go backwards there is a tiny pause in your motion for maybe 1/2 a second that you wouldn't have when walking in a straight line.

Thankyou in advance.
 
I don't know, I have never heard of such a thing. My wife walks in the house in a circle. Any exercise is better than none. Keep it up.

Chip
 
It is so interesting that you ask about this idea!! About 6 months ago I decided to do country line dancing in front of the tv.

Right now I don't do line dance, but what I have noticed is that I can get into a "groove" while doing my exercises and watch tv and get into a real pattern.

What I do is 4 quick paces forward, touch my toe down, then back 4 quick paces, then I move my arms as I pace. The other pattern I do is a "grapevine" which is a four step sideways movement. There are a few other patterns I do.

I have pondered the calories I run off and I just don't know. I have sort of compared it to slow ballroom dance so I don't overestimate the amount of cals I run off.

The other day I realized that I could do a little modified routine in front of the stove when I was sauteing veggies, just for a few minutes.

Every minute adds up. Even 3 minutes a day will be 1000 minutes in a year which is a lot of time.

It takes a little discipline to make myself keep it up. I usually like to sit with the lap top on my lap when I watch tv...... There have been some nights where I will do my routine for up to 30+ minutes.

I am interested in learning more about your routine, what do you watch or listen to? Do you move your arms?
 
I tend to do my hour a day during hour long shows. Such as Leno or Conan and I just keep going from the beginning of the show till the end. If you don't like late night shows there are a lot of other shows out there. Just the other day I put in a movie and started walking the pattern until the hour mark, then I stopped the movie and continued it the next day for the remaining 40 minutes or so of the movie, and when it ended I just kept going an additional 20. As for the arm thing, I move them how you would if you were running only not as fast. Where your arms form an L shape and you move your elbows in front of you then behind, one in front of you and one in back of you at the same time. It tends to get me sweating quite a bit around the 30-40 minute mark and much sooner if I pick up my pace a bit.

Then sometimes I will randomly just start moving very fast almost as if running for a minute or two just to get my heart rate going, then I instantly switch back to walking. Also on some of the occasions I decide as a spur of the moment thing to start running in the V shape for the last 3 minutes of the hour.
 
walking patterns

Hi,

You are very dedicated to do an hour a day!!

You have given me some GREAT ideas!! I like the 3 minutes each hour, that is brilliant, a mini metabolism booster. I also like your adding running steps to increase the work load. One thing I do is to include house work into the walking routine. I inevitably get distracted and off track.....

Are you on a food program also? Are you toning up or losing weight, or both?

I am a 41 year old female, need to lose about 10 more pounds, have lost about 14 so far. I eat about 1200 cal daily of healthy foods. Have been on my program since September. It is very slow, but is moving. Whenever I go off my routine for a few days it sets me back 1+ week of weight loss. It is not easy.

We have NO "bad foods" at home (which include chips, candy, ice cream, cake pastries....). At night I "forage" for bad foods at home, open cabinets, look in the fridge, freezer, there is nothing here worse than mandarin oranges. I cannot eat what I don't have.

Tonight I got out the ab roller and am setting a goal of increasing my rep by one daily, I started at 8 for my front abs and 4 for each oblique. If I start out by being sore, I will get discouraged and not want to do them. Sit ups are among my least favorite exercise.

I am excited that we have connected. I will be interested to keep up on your progress and to pick up ideas from you. :D

One little side note, my husband has joined me a few times with my step routine. He does my routine comically (running, exaggerating arms) which is hilarious.

Keep in touch!
 
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Sorry I haven't replied sooner. I'm currently in the process of moving so I haven't had much time to look over the forums. I'm glad that I was able to give you some ideas and I hope you can use them. I've been trying to lose weight and consuming a low thousand calorie intake per day. Averaging between 1200-1500 per day. So far I've been on it for 11 days and it seems to be working because the scale says I've dropped 8 pounds, however I'm sure most of that, if not all, is water weight.

I'm not really on any food program but what I've been doing is taking a multi-vitamin when I wake up then eating a apple for breakfast, a can of vegetable beef soup for lunch, one for dinner and an apple a few hours before sleep giving a total of 1200 calories.

200 per apple, 400 per can. The nice thing about the soup is that the beef in it gives a decent amount of protein and I don't go hungry anymore because of how filling the soup is. The urge I use to have to just eat randomly is gone as well. It used to be I would just eat when I was bored regardless of my hunger level. Thankfully by the 3-4 day of the diet that went away and it's been going good. I'm looking forward to hearing back from you.
 
Reason I'm wondering is because when you stop walking forward and start to go backwards there is a tiny pause in your motion for maybe 1/2 a second that you wouldn't have when walking in a straight line.

Depends on how hard you walk and how hard you hit that transition. Ever play basketball, or at least watched somebody play basketball? Ever heard of "suicide drills"? They are hell. You start at the baseline then run to the foul line, stop on a dime, turn around and go to the baseline, stop and turn around and go to the half court line... baseline... foul line 3/4 of the way down... baseline... opposite baseline... then back to the original baseline. They are MUCH worse than simply running the same amount of distance, due to the transition.

So basically, it's all about the intensity. If you just go through the motions and waddle around in a V shape at the pace of a 20 minute mile and casually turn around when you get to the end... obviously that's much different than walking as fast as you can then turning on a dime and making those transitions as short as possible, and it can get MUCH worse... trust me.

All I'm saying is that your V shaped area and your transitions are just as hard or just as easy as you personally make them.
 
I suspect that stopping and starting might burn more calories. The laws of physics say that objects in motion want to travel in a straight line at a constant speed unless acted on by other forces. Now of course, walking is a bit different to planetary motion, but if you walk in a straight line you can sort of coast along and it's pretty efficient. Slowing down, speeding up, changing direction suddenly, it all takes extra muscle effort.

I do have to ask, why are you walking in a V shape? Convenient room layout?
 
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Hello All,

Lately I've been doing walking as a good way to exercise, since its pretty easy...

How long should I walk for? Ive been going out during the evening and walk for approximate 2 miles + the distance to get to the park, and back home, which I estimate to be another 1 mile. So all together is 3 miles.

It takes me roughly 34-36 minutes to walk 2 miles. Is the time good? I do feel burn on my legs on this slant I go up on, on the trail.

Also, anyone got any good remedies for blisters? My left foot gets killed almost everytime...I get a blister when I walk on home...its pretty annoying, especially if I want to start some light jogging soon.


Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
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