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First, we will explain the theory behind building an accurate, safe and effective
walking program for you. Next, we will have you build it, so that you can have
your own, customized starting point!
Walking is perhaps the easiest program to begin very safely and effectively.
The key to doing this is finding the best starting point. You can do it through
trial-and-error and risk injuring yourself or wasting your time with something
that is too easy. Or, you can take a professional approach to it.
By starting a well-constructed walking program, you should experience positive
changes in your fat burning capacity, respiration and oxygen transporting ability,
muscle fibers, tendons, bones and ligaments, heart and circulatory system.
There is a threshold or minimum level you must work at to make changes in your
fitness level, and body composition. If you adjust your intensity (how fast/hard
your aerobics program is), duration (how long you exercise for) and your frequency
(how many days per week you exercise) you can work at the right threshold and
get the most out of your walking program.
INTENSITY
First, you will need to determine your fitness level in order to figure out what
intensity will be most beneficial to you. This requires a test whereby you walk
one mile and record a few things. We will have you conduct the test below
in order to customize your walking program.
Let's say you are a 45 year old man at a low fitness level. This would mean,
according to our calculators above, that you should optimally try to keep your
heart rate between 105 beats/minute and 131 beats/minute. That represents 60%
to 75% of your age/gender predicted maximal heart rate. This is not difficult
to do with a walking program.
To monitor your heart rate, you can use a heart rate monitor which will give
a constant reading of your pulse rate at the glance of a watch. If not, you can
track it the old fashioned way by checking your pulse at regular intervals (every
2-3 minutes). If you do not know how to do that, click here
to learn how.
You should repeat this fitness level
test every so often to upgrade your fitness level. Re-test yourself when your
walking program becomes too easy.
DURATION
This is simply the time it takes to perform the walking program, the amount of
calories burned or the distance traveled. Click here
to learn roughly how many calories are burned in relation to duration with a walking
program as well as other cardiovascular exercises.
Most studies have shown that you should perform your any aerobic exercise for
no less than 30 minutes and no more than 60 minutes at a time to improve fitness
and for weight control. Greater than 90 minutes can have an adverse effect, as
you have basically used up all of your energy stores at that point resulting in
a breakdown of muscle tissue for energy use.
If you are just starting out, it might be better to begin closer to 20 minutes
just so that you can gradually build up to a strong walking routine.
FREQUENCY
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Heart Rate
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Calories Burned per Minute
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100
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4.64
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110
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5.57
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115
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6.03
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120
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6.50
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125
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6.96
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130
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7.43
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135
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7.89
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140
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8.35
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145
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8.81
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150
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9.28
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155
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9.74
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160
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10.20
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165
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10.65
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170
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11.10
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175
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11.55
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180
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12.00
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You know your fitness level, you know how intense you should work out (your
target heart rate range). Now you simply have to adjust your duration and frequency
to burn however many calories you need to burn.
Let's say you want to burn 200 calories for each exercise session. In our example
the intensity range for target heart rate was between 105 and 131 beats/minute.
Find those numbers on the chart in the left-hand column.
If your heart rate falls somewhere near the middle of that, you should be burning
roughly 6.50 calories per minute. It would take approximately 31minutes at that
intensity to burn 200 calories.
If you do this 5 times per week, that is 1000 calories per week you are burning
with exercise.
Remember to start recording your duration AFTER you have warmed up and once
your heart rate is in its target range.
When you have decided how frequently you are going to work out, try to divide
it evenly over the week as shown in the example.
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It is more beneficial to exercise more frequently. Remember, you need to train
at least three days a week to reap the benefits. Trying to burn all the calories
of your weekly goal in one workout dangerous. Plus, with every day you train,
you are keeping your metabolic rate elevated.
SAMPLE PROGRAM
In order to give you an accurate program, we first need you to take the following
test: Perform a timed, one mile walk as fast as you can without causing any great
discomfort. At the completion of this mile, you take
your pulse and record the time (in minutes) it took for you to walk the mile.
Then, come back and fill in the following form:
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Total
Body
