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3 Tips On How To Start Walking as an Exercise

By Philip Yiga | October 14, 2016

Most people walk everyday but it actually requires a discipline and perseverance to walk-enough in order to gain health-benefits. In fact, it’s recommended for a person to take at least 10000-steps daily as way of exercising in order to improve on his/her overall fitness and body health. In fact, you can easily measure the steps taken using a pedometer and if you actually want to start walking on daily-basis then expect your body-health to improve over time which a great thing. So, below are some of the tips and steps that will help to start walking an exercise or workout.

SECTION-1: How To Prepare For Your Walks:

Find a great place to walk-on: generally, most locations designed for walking have a flat-terrain, smooth-surface, a straight-path and limited traffic. So, you should consider getting a convenient place in your neighbor or town that features a great walking-terrain for best results. On the other hand, you may try going to a nearby park because parks tend to offer the best walking-surfaces.

Wear fitness-gear: you also need to ensure that you’re wearing the appropriate fitness-shoes and clothing in order to make your feet and body feel more comfortable as walk. in fact, wearing the appropriate fitness-gear motivates you and this in-turn help you to improve on your walking-routine gradually which is a great thing.

Consider using a treadmill: in case you prefer working-out indoors, then consider using a treadmill but set it to a slow-speed which is just perfect for walking. In fact, you can achieve a great walking-routine over treadmill just like some walking outside and even treadmills save you from any troubles of weather-changes.

Create an exercise-playlist: listening to music as you walk will actually help to keep you active and motivated so that you can be able to walk for longer distance. Additionally, listening to music also helps to give your mind to think about other things in your life and even helps to relieve the mind form stress as you workout. So, you need to acquire a music-player and headphones in order to listen to music as your working-out.

Set reasonable goals: you actually need to set reasonable goals if you really want to progress during your running-routine. For example, you will have to start walking at a slower pace at the beginning and then gradually increase on your walking-speed and time-spent as you get used to the walking. On the other hand, try to write down your goals in a notebook/calendar in order to be able to keep yourself on track during your workout-routine. However, you should know that walking is mild workout that doesn’t require vigorous physical-exertion but it will just require you to increase on the amount of time you spend doing it.

Try to develop a strong mental-attitude for a steady walking-exercise: you actually need to develop a strong mental-attitude towards a slow but steady walking-exercise in order to achieve the best fitness-results over time. In fact, expect to get fast results from walking but instead make it part of your lifestyle and with time you happen to see its benefits.

Keep yourself hydrated: you need to keep your body hydrated just before you start walking for best results. In fact, its recommended drink at least 8-to-16 ounces of water an hour before you begin walking in order to prevent your body from becoming dehydrated while your exercising especially under hot weather-conditions. Additionally, you can also carry a convenient water-bottle along as you walk but don’t take a lot of water as you walk because it will make you feel stomach-cramps or go to bathrooms frequently which actually disrupts you’re workout routine.

SECTION-2: How To Set-Out On A Walking-Exercise:

Go for an easy first-walk: you actually need to go for an easy first-walk that enables you to get back to your starting-point no matter how far you have moved. So, walking on an oval or circular track for not more than a quarter-mile will actually enable you to achieve this first-walk. However, if you feel like extending the walk past the initially set goals then do it because it’s good for your health.

Set a walking-time: when you’re just starting walking-routine, you need to decide on much time to spend while walking. In fact, you should choose a time-period that you easily meet and it should probably be a short period of time. For example, you may have to start walking for about 2-to-5 minutes daily and then increase on the time as time goes by. Additionally, don’t pay attention to how far you walk but instead focus on walking for a longer period of time. All in all, you should know that farther and faster walks come with experience so don’t rush into accomplishing goals that you can’t meet at the beginning.

SECTION-3: How To Improve On Your Walking Performance:

Increase on walking-time: you will need to gradually increase on your walking-time by 30-seconds or 1-minute daily until you’re able to achieve a 10-minute walk. After you have reached a 10-minute walk target, your rate of increasing on time tends to slow-down but just try to continue increasing on the walking-time by about 5-minutes every week.

Work on your walking-speed: you will also need to work on your walking-speed after you’re able to achieve a 45-minute walk daily. in fact, increasing on your walking-speed will help to make your workout-routine more challenging and you may even decide to continue looking for more difficult terrains to walk on in order to make the walking more challenging.

Try to determine your maximum and target heart-rate: acquire a heart-rate monitor and wear it during your walking-exercises in order to get accurate target and maximum heart-rate readings. In fact, if you find that you’re under the target-heart-rate (THR) then you may consider increasing on your walking-speed in order to reach the THR and to make the workout more beneficial health-wise. Additionally, your body will not burn-up extra-fat unless you reach your target-heart-rate for a sustainable period of time.