| “Try walking in my shoes” – Depeche Mode Best Exercise Walking may be the best exercise available for the following reasons: • It can be done practically anywhere • No equipment is needed • Low impact • All weather • Easy to incorporate into your day What you need To start walking all you need to do is go outside and move your feet. A good pair of walking shoes helps. Get a check-up if you haven’t been to a doctor in a while. How to get started Depending on the shape you’re in, start at lunch time. Eat a small lunch and drink some fluids, preferably water. Head out for 5 – 10 minutes and walk back. You should have a 10 – 20-minute walk. Build this up to an hour. Safety The main dangers in walking are cars, dogs, and falling. Walk against traffic if there isn’t a sidewalk. Always give cars the right-of-way unless you’re sure they’re stopped before crossing an intersection. Have a cell phone to get help if there is an emergency. Wear bright reflective clothing especially if you walk at night. Carry or wear a flashing light. If the street lights are poor a flashlight might be needed. To avoid falling, skip your walk if the payment is slippery. Get new shoes if your current ones don’t work well. I recently had a pair of sneakers that would slip on some pavements when they got wet. I recently bought new sneakers and they don’t slip. Drive your route if you’re not familiar with it. This will allow you to see if a neighborhood is safe. Google Maps Use Google Maps to plan your walks. Find interesting places. See if the neighborhoods look safe. Measure the distance and time of your walk. Calories burned Walking burns calories depending on your weight and walking speed. Search A calorie calculator is available at http://exceldiet.com/showlist2.asp?parent=68549 Habit Make walking a habit so you will exercise without thinking about it. I walk about six miles a day, three in the morning and three in the evening to go from the train station to my office and back. I walk in most weather except heavy rain and snowy/slippery conditions. I save about $5.00 per day and this is $1,000 per year and I need to earn $2000 before taxes. I don’t think much about exercising as it’s automatically part of my day. Issues You may be too out of shape to walk for a few minutes. Make sure you see a doctor and get a clean bill of health from them. Big City vs. Suburbs Walking in a city is easier than the suburbs. May suburbs don’t have sidewalks. Always keep safety in mind. Is the neighborhood safe? Should you walk alone? Are there wild animals? Weather You can walk indoors. If you work near a big indoor facility that’s open to the public you can walk there. I use to walk in the World Financial Center in New York. There may be a mall, large store, gym with an indoor track or another type of indoor area near you. You can also purchase a treadmill for your home. When? I use to have an automatic two hours of walking because I walked to and from my job from Penn Station in NYC to Wall Street. Recently, I changed jobs and no longer have this automatic walk. Instead, I can walk in the morning prior to work. The old walk was 3-4 miles and an hour long. My current walk to work is about a 1/4 of the time or 15 minutes. Instead of walking straight to work I can make the walk longer by adjusting the path so it's longer. There's also your lunch hour if you get one. You can easily build up to walking out a half hour and back. After work, on your way home, the same can be done. I can walk the 2.2 miles from my train station to my home. There are many opportunities to walk. You just have to use some creativity, building up your distance and desire to do it. Measure This day and age with the proliferation of smartphones there's no reason to not track your steps. These phones can have an app loaded to automatically track your steps. These apps can help motivate you to increase your distance. |