| Walking to lose weight is for every one, no matter | | | | you can start to vary the length of your intervals to |
| what your age or physical condition. | | | | increase the "difficulty" or challenge. |
| In fact, walking is a heart-healthy workout that you can | | | | For example, you could lengthen the high-intensity |
| really tailor to your schedule. | | | | 2-minute interval to 3 or even 4 minutes. Or you could |
| All you need is just walking shoes and socks and you | | | | shorten the lower-intensity 2-minute interval to 1 minute. |
| can walk your way to weight loss, to better health and | | | | 3. The Beginner Version |
| to a slimmer you. | | | | If you're a beginner walker, you could opt for 1-minute |
| I've a walking program here that's based on interval | | | | of high-intensity walking and 1-2 minutes of low-intensity |
| workout, a guide for you to do the correct and | | | | walking. As you get stronger, gradually increase the |
| effective ways of walking to lose weight. | | | | high-intensity interval portion. |
| 1. Start with a 5-minute warm-up | | | | 4. The Treadmill Version |
| Begin to walk for 5 minutes at a slow and easy pace, | | | | When warming up and doing low-intensity walking, |
| say 2.5 - 3.5 miles per hour, to warm up your muscle | | | | keep your treadmill flat or at a 1% incline. |
| and loosen your joints. | | | | During your high intensity intervals, raise the treadmill's |
| Warm-up exercise increases the flow of blood and | | | | incline anywhere from a 3% to a 12% incline. |
| oxygen to your muscle, preparing it for the exercise | | | | Keep raising and lowering the treadmill's incline every 2 |
| ahead. | | | | minutes for the 20-minute walking session. |
| 2. The Interval Workout | | | | If you're walking outdoor, just use some imagination to |
| This interval workout really revs up your metabolism to | | | | make your walk more interesting and fun, to help you |
| burn calories. | | | | go through the 30-minute walk session faster. |
| Basically, when you walk, you'll alternate spurts of | | | | Here are 4 ways to help you out: |
| higher-intensity walking and lower-intensity walking. | | | | -Get an IPOD and listen to upbeat, power-charged |
| You could start with 2-minutes of walking at very brisk | | | | music. Pick songs that make you keep stepping and |
| pace (about 3.5 - 4.5 miles per hour) or jogging. The | | | | walking! |
| purpose of this is to get your heart rate up (to a point | | | | -Walk with a friend or family member. You'll walk |
| where you breath hard but could still hold a | | | | further and faster with good company |
| conversation). | | | | -Enjoy the surroundings and sceneries while out there |
| After this 2-minute session, slow down to an easy | | | | walking in the open! Listen to all the sweet, soothing |
| walk (say you walk at 2.5 - 3.5 miles per hour) for a | | | | sounds - children's happy laughter, bird's singing, dog's |
| 2-minute session, to catch your breath and lower your | | | | barking...... |
| hear rate. | | | | -Walk a new route every now and then- don't just |
| Keep on doing the 2-minutes of very brisk walking | | | | stick to the same old, same old route! You'll find how |
| followed by the 2-minutes of easy walking until you're | | | | fast time passes when walking in a new neighborhood |
| done up to 20 minutes. | | | | or new trail. |
| As your body's stronger and your endurance's better, | | | | |