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Whereas most people require a cup of coffee to start their day, I need my fitness fix. Rarely does a day go by when I don’t get my heart pumping, oxygen circulating, and muscles moving via some form of strength training or aerobic conditioning. But there are times when due to travel plans, flight schedules, business meetings, and/or family functions that my workout schedule gets altered - but rarely cancelled.
If I can’t get to the gym or I need a break in my workout routine, I lace up my running shoes and I indulge in the ultimate exercise. I go take a walk! That’s right. I suck in a dose of God’s good sunshine and fresh air. It’s the ultimate power surge. In addition to getting the blood circulating and clearing the mental cobwebs, the stroll outdoors reaps the physiological rewards of sunlight – which in addition to helping your body manufacture vitamin D and absorb the bone-strengthening mineral calcium – also increases your body’s production of serotonin, which lifts your mood and increases energy.
But when the weather or nightfall prevents a trek outdoors, I indulge in the next best thing. I turn on the boob tube and catch one of my favorite programs while I walk my way to a healthier state using my trusty treadmill. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, treadmills easily outpace exercise bikes and rowing machines when it comes to calories burned per hour.
Walking has been called the ultimate exercise because it can be performed by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. It’s a load-bearing exercise that strengthens the lower extremities, fortifies the heart and lungs, and lowers the blood cholesterol level. It stimulates the release of mind-enhancing endorphins. And most importantly, it doesn’t cost a cent - but instead costs your body calories in the process.
For your information, walking burns approximately the same amount of calories as jogging over the same distance – at the most 10% less due to the efficiencies of walking. Sounds impossible, but it’s due to simple physics: energy equals mass over distance. You are moving the same mass of body weight over the same distance with only time as the variable; therefore, the same calories are burned for fuel. Walking is a safe and efficient fat-burning exercise!
To optimize your walking program I suggest the following guidelines:
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