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An extract from Woman’s Weekly Magazine February 2002
The Healthy Secret
Everyone Should Know
Walking will help you lose those unwanted pounds, improve your mood and may even put some sparkle into your social life. Fitness trends come and go, but walking remains one of the easiest ways to get active for all age groups and abilities. “Walking is one of the best forms of exercise going and it’s great for everyone" says John Dent our health and fitness advisor. Well, what are you waiting for?
Walking For Your Health
Walking has the power to protect you from some of the most dangerous and devastating illnesses – heart disease, obesity, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, and bowel cancer. Walking at least two miles a day can cut the risk of heart disease by about half, because it brings down high blood pressure and reduces levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol in the blood. The same improvements can also reduce the risk of stroke. Regular exercise is especially important in the prevention of "late onset" diabetes. A major study carried out by the American National Institute of Health – involving more than 3,000 people who were at risk of developing this form of diabetes – found that a 30 minute walk, five days a week, plus losing an average of 15 pounds in weight, cut their risk by more than half. Walking is also good for gut health; it can banish constipation and reduces the risk of bowel and colon cancer by up to 40 per cent. It boosts bone health by strengthening the femur (the major leg bone) and increasing muscle strength, stamina and physical co-ordination, thus reducing the risk of falls and fractures. Walking is a powerful weapon against obesity – a major risk factor for all of these diseases.
Walking for Weight Loss
Walking can be one of your most powerful allies in the weight-loss war. Regular walking can help reduce weight and maintain weight loss. Of course, it is possible to lose weight without taking any exercise, but diets combined with exercise are nearly twice as effective as dieting on its own, you’ll need to keep moving if you want to keep those pounds off for good!
Around half of us in the UK are now officially overweight and one in five are obese, meaning their extra weight puts them at increased risk of health problems such as diabetes, stroke heart disease and some cancers. Experts estimate that if current trends continue, by the year 2010, 25 per cent of the population will be obese.
Lack of exercise, rather than increased calorie intake is the main reason for this "obesity epidemic", according to a report from The Exercise and Health Research Group at Loughborough University. National studies have shown that more than 70 per cent of us fail to take even the minimum amount of activity for health each week and people who are overweight are even less active than others. If you are seriously, you need an extra 30 minutes of activity daily, on top of your normal routine.
The benefits of walking aren’t just shown on the scales. You may even find you go down a dress size without losing weight, this is because muscle weighs more than fat and regular exercise builds muscle as opposed to fat.
Regular Walking Can …
·Reduce your weight by the steady and safe rate of one pound every three weeks –you can achieve this weight loss by walking only two miles a day on three days a week.
· Make you more trim by toning your muscles.
· Improve posture and give your figure a better appearance – you can look slimmer and fitter without losing any weight.
Walking Back To Happiness
If you’re feeling particularly low, anxious, stressed or worried, a good walk every day can be one way to help sort out your problems. In fact, the evidence of it’s antidepressant powers is so strong that in April last year the Government recommended that doctors should consider prescribing exercise sessions asan alternative to medication for patients with mild depression. Walking makes you feel good and countless studies have shown it can improve mood, lift symptoms of mild anxiety and depression and boost self-esteem.
On the physical side, exercisers appear to be more able to weather the adverse effects of stress. Interestingly, fit people don’t produce as much of the stress hormones – adrenaline and cortisol – that flood our bodies when we feel "an alert", and recover more quickly from their effects.
Stepping Out
Most of us can walk, of course, but brisk walking is what’s needed for health and fitness. (See your questions answered: How fast should I walk?). Don’t stroll or saunter, but walk as if you are keen to get to your destination. Here are a few pointers to put a spring in your step. And remember, correct technique and posture aids movement, prevents injury and will develop muscle in the right places as you walk.
·Walk tall, with your head up and looking ahead. Don’t look down at the ground or lean in the direction you are walking, Relax your jaw and your shoulders to avoid tension in the neck and back.
· Allow your arms to swing freely and rhythmically – remember your arm speed controls your leg speed. Don’t keep your arms straight and stiff; bend them gently at the elbow towards a 90° angle.
· Don’t swing your arms up higher than your breastbone, as this is wasted effort.
· Keep your hands in a loose curl; don’t clench your fists while walking.
· Step out for brisk walking, but resist the urge to take longer strides than is natural for you. This tires your muscles and quicker, smaller steps cover more ground.
· Remember your breathing: take full breaths and exhale completely.
· Take smaller strides walking uphill and lean into the hill.
· Exercise should never be painful. If you feel severe pain, stop and see your GP.
Boosting the Benefits
If you’re already quite fit, a comfortable, brisk walking pace – this is normal around three miles per hour for a fit person – may not be enough to increase your breathing and pulse rate and provide sufficient cardiovascular exercise for your heart and lungs. You might need to crank up the speed a bit. The beauty of walking is that you can adjust the speed and intensity to give you more of an aerobic workout whenever you want. There are three main ways of doing this:
· Walking faster.Stride out briskly, as though you are walking fast to catch a bus or get in out of the cold. Walk fast enough to make you feel warm and a little breathless.
· Walking higher.Take a route that includes some hills or steps – or both. As you become fitter, you can take them at a brisker pace. Walking up a ten per cent incline can almost double the energy value of walking. "By adding a few hills, you can significantly increase the heart rate and the demands on the body," says John Dent.
· Walking longer.Instead of your normal 20 or 30 minutes per day, walk for 45 minutes, or even an hour. Vary the pace and intensity of your walk to get the most from it.
All Together Now
Walking can be a great way to improve your social life. Every weekend hundreds of people all over the country join groups for guided walks in both the town and countryside and there are many travel companies specialising in walking holidays both at home and abroad.
· The Ramblers ‘Association(call 020 7339 8500, or visit
www.ramblers.org.uk) is the leading UK organisation offering details of groups, guides, information and advice to walkers.
· The National Trust
(call020 7222 9251, or visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk) provides free leaflets of easy countryside walks. Contact the regional office of the area you plan to visit.
·Themed guided walks on historical, literary and architectural subjects are increasingly popular.
London Walks(call 020 7624 3978 or visit www.walks.com) offers walks featuring everything from Shakespeare to Sherlock Holmes. Contact your local tourist board to find out what’s on near you.
·Along-term goal, such as a big walking event or a charity walk, can be abig motivator. If you’re feeling really ambitious, how about an 85Km, five day trek in Brazil, this August with the mental health charityMind
(call 0870 012 9001, or visitwww.mind.org.uk/brazil) or walking the source of the Ganges in September for the British Heart Foundation
(call 0800587 2606 and leave your details to be sent an information pack).
·Walking Women (call 01926 313321, or visit www.walkingwomen.com) arranges walking holidays and short breaks in the UK and abroad.
· Walking the way to health(visit www.whi.org.uk) is an initiative from the
British Heart FoundationandThe Countryside Agencyto encourage short, supervised walks for people who have health problems. Visit the website for details of these groups.
Too tired to exercise?
Being too busy and tired to exercise is one of the oldest excuses in the book. One of the best reasons to exercise is that, oddly enough, it gives you more energy. The stressed-out tiredness you feel at the end of a long, exhausting day is very different from the sort of tiredness experienced after a good walk or a day spent digging in the garden. Regular exercise improves blood flow around the body and delivers more oxygen to the tissues, energising them and boosting the metabolism. It also helps relieve stress. If you make exercise part of your weekly routine, you will gradually find you are able to do more with less fatigue. An added bonus is that regular exercise can improve sleep patterns, especially in people who suffer from insomnia, so you may just benefit from a more restful night’s sleep as well.
Getting Started
Do you think you’d find it difficult to make walking part of your regular routine?
Here are some ideas to get you started:
·Think before you use the car for a journey of less than a mile. Could you walk to the post office, round to a friend’s house or local shop’s instead?
· Try making a walk part of your journey to work. Walk to the rail or underground station instead of driving, or get off the bus a few stop earlier.
· Always take the stairs instead of the lift in shops or at work.
· Park the car further away from your destination and walk the last part to the shops, to work or when going out.
Keeping Going
Keeping motivated is one of the biggest problems when taking up any new exercise or routine.
You should …
· Decide on a target you know you can manage – for example a ten-minute walk twice a week for a month – then reward yourself when you have reached it.
· Time your daily walk and see if you can do it faster as you become fitter. Keep a note of when and where you’ve walked.
· Walk with a friend, work colleague or partner. It’s more fun and you’ll keep each other up to the mark.
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Timetable walking into your normal routine and make the time to do it.
· Vary your routine from time to time. If you walk round the block in one direction, try going the other way, change your route or time of day.
Remember ……
If you’ve been inactive fora while, had an illness or have any health condition that could be affected by exercise, such as a heart problem, diabetes or high blood pressure, check your walking plans with your doctor before you begin. | 
