John Stanton - Walking

Walking

A Complete Guide to Walking for Fitness, Health and Weight Loss

ALSO BY JOHN STANTON

Running Rooms Book on Running
Running Rooms Training Log
Runners Personal Performance Record

Walking

A Complete Guide to Walking for Fitness, Health and Weight Loss

John Stanton

Founder of the Running Room

Contents

Preface

Walkingthe number one exercise in North Americais both social and personal. Walking is simple, yet it can be a life-altering experience. As a once overweight, two pack-a-day smoker, I know the power of exercise for personal change. The ultimate challenge is to commit to walking each day. You will receive a special joy along with a real sense of personal reflection when you make walking part of your day. Some days solitary walking provides you with both clarity of thinking and calmness, while on other days it is social. A walk can be just for you, the athlete, or it can be for competition, or maybe for completion. Group walking improves your health and wellness and at the same time expands your circle of friends. Solo walking works on your self-discipline and courage, whereas the group walks allow you to be like the child and think of your exercise as play.

Walking is an empowering combination of commitment and hard work leading to triumph, celebration and camaraderie.

Walking burns fat, rids you of stress, improves your self-esteem and helps you sleep better. Combined with a positive I can do it attitude, you soon find your improved sense of empowerment harnessing all your personal, professional and community goals. Each obstacle in your life transforms into a step towards your future success, thanks to a proven plan.

This book will provide you with an intelligent plan, one that is gentle, yet progressive in design. Within these pages you will find the motivation, inspiration, training schedules and innovative training techniques that will take you from walking for fitness to walking a personal best time in the marathon.

As a walker, you will enjoy the many physical, mental and emotional improvements walking will add to the quality of your life.

This book is dedicated to all walkers. Enjoy!

Using This Book

WalkingA Simple and Effective Exercise

1. Most people know that physical activity is good for them. Few know that physical activity does not have to be hard to improve their health. Walking is fun and challenging and helps you feel good about yourself.

2. You can design your own walking program by gradually increasing the frequency, time, intensity and distance you walk, or you can follow the programs provided in this book. There are a variety of programs, from the absolute beginner programs to fat burning and fitness walking programs to the distance programs for 5 km, 10 km, half marathon and full marathon training. If weight loss is your goal then you want to start at a very basic level and build up to 60 minutes of continuous walking five to seven days a week.

3. There are three program categories:

programs designed for people who are currently inactive

programs designed for people who are physically active on a regular basis

programs designed for people who have a fitness goal and may want to complete a certain distance and even complete a walking event

Benefits of Walking

After two to three weeks, regular walking will

increase your energy level and stamina

relieve stress and tension

improve your sleep

Over the long term, regular walking will

make you feel good about yourself

help you to achieve and maintain a healthy weight when combined with healthy eating

reduce the risk of developing heart disease, osteoporosis and certain cancers

strengthen bones and muscles

improve your self-confidence

Choosing a Walking Program

In this book you will find sample programs. Tell your doctors about your plans to start a walking program. Your starting point is to assess your physical condition and then choose a program that appears appropriate and comfortable. Once you have started, reassess your choice and if you feel you are overexerting, slow down. Alternatively, if you arent feeling the effect from your walking program, try one of the more advanced programs, which will have you walking at a faster pace and a longer distance.

Assessing Your Physical Readiness

Fitness walking can be a strenuous physical activity. Seven questions from the Physical Readiness Questionnaire (Par-Q) will help you assess your readiness to start training.

Questionnaire

1. Has your doctor ever said that you have a heart condition and that you should only do physical activity recommended by a doctor?

2. Do you feel pain in your chest when you do physical activities?

3. In the past month, have you had chest pain when not doing physical activities?

4. Do you lose your balance because of dizziness or do you ever lose consciousness?

5. Do you have a bone or joint problem that could be made worse by a change in your physical activity?

6. Is your doctor currently prescribing drugs (for example, water pills) for your blood pressure or heart condition?

7. Do you know of any other reason why you should not perform physical activities?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, do not continue until you receive a doctors clearance. If you answered no to every question, you may be reasonably sure its safe to increase your physical activity.

Assessing Your Walking Fitness

Are you unsure of your current fitness level? Where is your starting point? Just how healthy and fit are you? This self-test checks both your health history and your fitness habits.

Choose the number that best describes you in each of the 10 areas, and then add up your score. The results will tell you whether you have high, average or low cardiovascular health.

Cardiovascular Health

Which of these statements best describes your cardiovascular condition? This check is a critical step before you enter any vigorous activity. (Warning: If you have a history of cardiovascular disease, start the walking programs in this book only after receiving approval from your doctor and then only with close supervision by a fitness instructor.)