Walk to weight loss and better health

Walk your way to better health

From swimming laps and working out in the gym to playing team sports and doing Pilates at home, there are hundreds of ways to exercise. However, walking remains one of the easiest, most accessible and most affordable workouts there are.

So why the popularity? “Walking doesn’t require any specialised equipment and can be performed anytime, anywhere,” says exercise physiologist Chris Fry from Healthkicks in Cairns. “Walking is also one of the few forms of physical activity that can be easily implemented into most exercise routines, regardless of your age, gender or exercise history.”

Perth-based exercise physiologist Fiona Ryan, from the sports medicine facility Sportreat, agrees that walking has a number of major advantages. “Because it’s low impact on your musculoskeletal system and creates less loading on the joints, there’s much less risk of injury. At the same time, you can vary the intensity of walking from low to moderate, so it’s a suitable option for every level of fitness,” she adds.

Read on for surprisingly simple ways to upgrade your walking workout!

The health and fitness benefits

The fantastic thing about walking? Even though it’s one of the easiest kinds of exercise out there, research proves that it’s a great way to boost your health and help those scales move in the right direction. Here’s why it works:

1. It boosts general wellbeing

“Any form of aerobic exercise has extremely beneficial effects on many chronic-disease risk factors, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels,” says Fry. “And the benefit of walking is that it provides all of these health benefits with minimal adverse effects.”

2. It extends your lifespan

According to research from the University of Pittsburgh, the faster you can walk, the better. Researchers found that people who can still cover at least 3.6km in an hour during a walk when they reach the age of 65 significantly increase their chances of living a long, healthy, disease-free life, compared to those people who walk more slowly.

3. It helps fight memory loss

Strange, but true! Another study from the University of Pittsburgh discovered that walking at least 9.5km a week can protect brain size and, as a result, helps to preserve memory function.

4. It reduces the risk of macular degeneration

That’s according to research from the University of Wisconsin, which found that, when combined with a healthy diet and not smoking, regular walking can help reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration – a leading cause of blindness – by as much as 71 per cent.

Tips and tricks

There are plenty of gadgets designed to help you get the most out of your walking workout. Why not try an activity tracker? A study by Stanford University School of Medicine found that wearing a pedometer encourages people to take an extra 2100 steps a day. “They are a cheap and effective method for gauging your fitness progress,” explains Fry.

Fancy a more-high tech version? Invest in a Fitbit or a Jawbone that automatically tracks activity and syncs all the important info to your phone or tablet, as well as the WW app.

BUY: Our Fit Pedometer

Walking dos and don’ts

Try these handy dos and don’ts to maximise the health and body benefits of your walking workout.

Do… Aim to focus your gaze on the horizon out in front of you or, alternatively, on an object 10 or more metres ahead of you, recommends Fry. This will encourage you to maintain a naturally relaxed and healthy neck position.

Do… Remember to keep your bellybutton tightened or tucked in while you walk. “This helps to ensure a degree of control over core abdominal muscles, which helps to minimise any spinal compression that walking might create,” says Fry.

Do… Concentrate on your backside. “Focus on tightening your gluteal (bottom) muscles when each foot touches the ground after a stride for stronger, more toned muscles,” suggests Fry.

Don’t… Overstride. “A really common beginner’s mistake is lengthening your stride in order to walk faster,” cautions Ryan. “Overstriding is actually biomechanically inefficient and can slow you down. It can even cause an injury, so instead of over-striding to increase your pace, think about concentrating on a powerful push-off that allows the foot to land closer to the body.”

Don’t… Tense your upper body. “When you walk, the muscles in your hands and arms should stay relaxed, rather than tightened, to avoid muscle soreness and neck or back tension,” Ryan adds.

Your seven-day walking plan

With the right mix, it’s easy to create a weekly exercise program just through walking.