Events have overtaken at least one of my recent walking and weight loss blog posts!
Stars Who Are Walking to Lose Weight
This article has great walking for weight loss tips and makes a lie of my recent post saying walking to lose weight would never be a favoured celebrity sport.
During the course of writing the Walking to Lose Weight blog some questions arise with more frequency and generally are incorporated as part of posts rather than as specific answers to a question. Today though some questions will be considered and answered directly.
What numbers are appropriate when walking on a treadmill?
W..ell! It depends. Subsequent to my previous suggestions for ramping up the interest or results for treadmill walking it is revealed that there are many fans for using the treadmill for weight loss and adding in increases to your program to avoid boredom. Generally gym treadmills are considered the most accurate and flexible, with walking dvds and other accessories best for at home use, although there are many fans for home treadmills.
Ideal speeds etc. depend very much on your experience, height, weight, age…in other words very much up to you. For instance, in kilometres/hour speeds of 5.5 to 5.9 (around 3.5 to 4 miles/hour) are considered beneficial without over stressing the system. You may want to start on a warm up speed, gradually increase to this or higher level and do short spurts of running or other interval type training e.g. increasing the gradient for 2 minutes. At 5 foot 2 inches I run at around 7.6 km/hr (4.7 m/h) but a taller or fitter person would run faster. Shorter steps done faster is generally the best way to increase speed. Experiment with the gradient levels until you know what suits you. Remember that how you feel on the day will affect your capacity-so a tired body, or one that has sore back of the legs from hill walking may not be up to as high a level of gradient today as yesterday.
When starting walking the numbers on the dashboard can be confusing. A basic understanding of the meaning of the treadmill display information is helpful. In particular note that calorie burning information requires at a minimum input of weight information for any chance of accuracy.
Is walking in a shopping mall really an option?
Skeptics abound apparently about the feasibility of walking seriously in shopping complexes and achieving a decent walking to lose weight workout. Perhaps we can point out what is not a walking to lose weight mall experience. It is not strolling down aisles stopping every few feet to look at a price, or pushing and leaning on a shopping cart, or pulling two children reluctantly behind you with frequent stops, or sitting whenever possible- if you have to wait when walking to lose weight then stand!
Your local shops may not be ideal for this exercise. If not, look for venues which are: undercover markets which are large and regularly laid out; one or two level malls with inside/outside and underground levels work well. Air conditioning is a major incentive when walking outside isn’t an option because of the weather.
Many communities have mall walking clubs which generally operate before the centres open for shopping, sometimes with set routes. The main purpose of the group may not suit you as some are aimed at the elderly and frail for instance, and consequently would be slower but many are weight loss or fitness oriented. This doesn’t have to be your main option but it is a great backup.
Once you realise the attractiveness of walking in a well lit, comfortable, flat environment look around your local area to see other options you haven’t considered previously.
April 19th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
[...] it already feels so good and it’s a fun part of your day. However compared to walking on a treadmill which gives you a time and distance measure, walking and being generally active can be deceptive [...]