Walking is the Perfect Exercise
Starting to exercise after a long period of not exercising can be difficult. There are so many choices it is hard to know where to start. Should you run, swim, join a gym and hire a personal trainer? The correct choice may not be any of these but you do need to start doing something.
Your new exercise program need not be complicated, in fact the less complex the better. Complicated exercise programs will make it much easier for you to skip sessions or even quit altogether. The obvious program for people who have not exercised for some time and find it difficult to keep on an exercise program is simply go for a walk.
Because walking has many health benefits such as increased cardio vascular health and weight loss it is seen as a perfect exercise for people who have not exercised for a long time. There are also other benefits.
1. Almost everybody can walk. Apart from people with serious medical problems most people can start exercising by walking today. If you do have any medical concerns you should consult a health care professional before starting.
2. All you need is a pair of shoes. It just takes a pair of comfortable shoes and you can start your walking exercise program today. This means that waling is a cost effective and convenient exercise program.
3. You do not need to go anywhere special. For many exercise programs you need to go somewhere special before you can start, like going to the gym. For a walking based exercise program you just need to stand up and walk out your door to get started. This will mean you have no excuses not the exercise.
So how far do you need to walk each day? The simple answer to this is as far as you can while still feeling comfortable. There is no requirement to push yourself to exhaustion, just go as far as you can. What you need to do to make this program work is to walk a little longer or a little farther each day. With small increases each day you will make massive improvements in your health and fitness.
Most people will find that they will easily be able to slowly increase the amount of time they spend walking each day and before they know it they are walking for more than thirty minutes each day without any problems. When people start exercising they are often not sure of their limits so starting off with a comfortable time (or distance) to walk and increasing the distance each day means they can increase their workouts and fitness without becoming discouraged or injuring themselves.
One of my clients lost a great deal of weight by simply starting walking and increasing their walks by 30 seconds each day four days a week. She started walking for only five minutes the first day. The second day she walk for five and a half minutes, the third day for six minutes. Sounds easy? Yes it was. By the end of the 3rd month she was easily walking for more than thirty minutes and had increased her fitness, self esteem and lost a great deal of weight.
T H Pange has been a fitness and lifestyle coach for over a decade. He believes that through easy changes in diet, exercise tips and lifestyle you can lose weight easily and enjoy a healthy happy life.