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Walk Your Way Fit!
By: Laura M. Turner
“It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker.”
~Henry David Thoreau
Have you been looking for an easy, fun way to get fit? One that
doesn’t involve costly equipment or a ton of time?
Would you like to:
•Lose weight?
•Improve endurance?
•Tone muscles?
•Enjoy long range health?
Did you know that you can reap these benefits (and more) just by
walking? You can! But, what most people don’t know: in effort to
achieve a certain result, you need to use a specific program (or
a combination of them).
When first making the commitment to a walking program, you’ll need
to establish your goals--ask yourself: “What’s my main fitness
priority?”
Next, you need only match up your goal to one of these five programs.
Choose from: weight loss, cardio conditioning, muscle toning, long
term health or a combination of all of these.
Here’s a thumbnail sketch of each simple program:
* Weight Loss
Benefits: Flatten tummy, shrink hips, tighten thighs, reduce
excessive fat.
Type of walk: Moderate; 45-60 minutes, daily.
Calories expended: 2,000-2,500 per week.
*Cardio Conditioning
Benefits: Strengthens heart, improves aerobic endurance, helps you
perform better during other aerobic activities, and helps you recover
more quickly from physical exertion.
Type of walk: High intensity, brisk pace; 20-30 minutes 3-4 days
per week.
Calories expended: 800-1,000 calories per week.
*Muscle Toning
Benefits: Improve muscle strength, endurance, body firmness and
increase metabolism.
Type of walk: Moderate, with resistance; 20-70 minutes 2-3 days per
week.
Calories expended: 500-3,000 calories per week.
Notes: Use hand weights-light hand or wrist weights and swing them
in a controlled manner. When doing so, flex your arm muscles,
keeping them as close as possible to your trunk.
* Long Term Health
Benefits: Done consistently, this walk will increase energy, reduce
stress and fatigue, improve risk of heart disease, improve mood,
improve self-esteem and ad years to your life.
Type of Walk: Consistent walks; 30+ minutes, daily.
Calories expended 2,000 per week.
* Have it all! Mix up all four.
Type of walk: Choose one program each day, 4 times per week or check
out some of the great walking videos here:
==>http://www.collagevideo.com!
My Mom’s story: When I was a teen-ager my mother and I used to
exercise together. After some years, however, my Mom’s priorities
changed and she found herself about 30 pounds overweight. Once she
made the commitment to make a change, she used the combination of a
daily walk and a sensible diet. The result? She lost one pound per
week for 30 weeks and is back to her thin self once again!
A couple things before you begin. Most importantly, before you begin
any fitness program, check with your doctor. Also, to make your
walking workout a positive experience, invest in proper footwear.
You will want to have flexible sneakers, walking shoes or
(what I usually recommend) “cross-trainers.” They are available
at all sporting goods stores: make the investment, you’ll be glad
you did!
And speaking of proper form, most people also do not realize that
there is a “way” to walk for the greatest benefit. It’s easy:
first, strike the ground with your heel, rolling your foot to your
toe. Then, push off with your toe. Repeat this with your opposite
foot.
That's all there is to it! With a little effort and your new
flexible shoes "made for walkin'" you are well on your way to
walking yourself fit!
About the Author
Laura Turner, Certified Personal Trainer has developed
a series of health, fitness, and nutrition tips available
at ===>http://www.1brand-new-body.com In 21 days you can
create healthy new you,let her show you how! Get her free
report: 7 Steps to a High Performance Body by sending a
blank email to: ===> mailto:hiperformbody@getresponse.com
email this
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How to Benefit from the Mind-Body Connection
(excerpt)
You are about to gain insight into the
mind-body connection. The number of
people who truly understand these principles on our
planet are relatively few.
There is an undeniable connection between our minds and
bodies, you can learn to use this fact to your benefit.
Dr. Bernie Siegel, author of "Love, Medicine and
Miracles" was once a distraught cancer surgeon until he
began to understand the greater principles of the mind-
body connection. He felt dragged down by the artificial
barriers that existed between patient and doctor, and the
helplessness he often felt as a result of his inability
to effectively serve those patients. Eventually, those
barriers were disintegrated by Dr. Siegel's recognition
and growing understanding of the mind-body connection and
how it could serve his patients and himself.
Dr. Siegel, or Bernie as he began to have his patients
refer to him, had some
startling realizations as a cancer surgeon. He found that
there were actually
quite a few people in the world that successfully beat
the statistics on cancer
survival. He began to recognize that a patient's ability
to defeat something as
serious as cancer had to do with the patient's mind and
attitude about their
disease.
If you would like to see the rest of
this article, please go here:
http://www.tobeinformed.com/repository/mind-body.html
copyright 2004 - David Snape
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