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By Judy Heller

Judy Heller, founder of
Wonders of Walking LLC,
advocates walking for well being and pleasure. Wonders of Walking promotes Walking Events for Walkers by Walkers. Judy Heller is founder and owner of EroFit & Associates, LLC, celebrating Fitness for a Lifetime. Heller offers personalized fitness training and coaching for individuals and groups.
Contact: Judy Heller
at 503-282-1677:
email judy@erofit.com
jheller@wondersofwalking.com

Also visit: www.erofit.com
www.wondersofwalking.com

I only went out
for a walk and
concluded to stay out until sundown,
For going out,
I found
Was really going in.

— John Muir

Walking as a Tool — What Are You Waiting For?

Walking is lauded across the nation as the safest, most agreeable, and most accessible exercise. And yet, I often wonder how the expression “I’m just a walker” originated? Or why some scoff at walking? For the uninitiated, walking may not be a glamour sport, but don’t tell that to a fitness walker, an Olympic race walker, or to those who celebrate the myriad of walking benefits.

Walking may sound humdrum because that’s the definition of “pedestrian”: Going on foot. Ordinary and dull. That definition prevents people from experiencing its physical, mental, and spiritual benefits.

Did you know exercise walking is the most popular fitness activity since 1990? It grew 2.7% in 2007, with 89.8 million Americans walking for exercise. Contrast this with running/jogging, ranked 11th with 20.4 million.1 According to National Sporting Goods Association Vice President of Information and Research, Thomas B. Doyle, “Five of the top 14 activities in our survey are fitness related, and it shouldn’t be too many years before exercise walking becomes the nation’s first 100-million-participant activity.”(2)

Running is a great aerobic exercise, but few of us have bodies to survive the high impact landings per mile. In biking, the impact is reduced, but so are the weight-bearing, bone-strengthening benefits. A recent study that appeared in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that competitive male road cyclists showed significantly lower bone mineral density in their spines than a control group of men who were moderately physically active.(3)

A complete fitness program will include, but is not limited to, an aerobic component, strength and endurance, flexibility, and nutrition. If you have not already created the habit, now is the time for you to make time for integrating regular fitness exercise and consider walking as your tool. Walking is not stressful like running, and when enjoyed regularly at a good pace, it’s great for your body, regardless of age. How you walk makes a difference. When done with purpose, it offers excellent cardiovascular benefits. Other health benefits include lowering the risk of heart attack, diabetes, stroke, osteoporosis, breast and colon cancer. It helps reduce weight, cholesterol levels, constipation, depression, age-related dementia and at the same time increase muscle mass, bone mass, and reshape thighs and flatten the tummy.

Interesting Walking Facts
• Walking is one of the most effective exercises for weight loss, when combined with nutritional awareness, because it can be performed regularly.
• Walking is a natural locomotion that, when combined with proper technique, can provide a challenging, motivating, and exhilarating total body workout for everyone.
• You can walk inside or outside, alone or with others, on a treadmill, around a track, or on one of our wonderful bike paths.
• Walking uses almost all 650 muscles and 203 bones in the body — more than any other sport.
• It takes roughly 2,000 steps to walk a mile and most people will walk from 3,000 to 6,000 steps in a day. Research suggests walking 10,000 steps a day leads to better health.

A seven year diabetes prevention program by the National Institute of Health found a combination of 150 minutes or more of activity a week, in combination of a healthier diet, did more to ward off diabetes than the popular drug Metformin. These individuals also dropped 7% of their body weight in one year.

For anything to become a habit it must be fun. Design a strategy. Consult with a trainer. Schedule walks with a friend; join a group or club; set a goal to participate in an event such as the Discovery Days or Willamette Valley 30k Walk ‘n Relay. Dig into your tool box and do what you can to launch your walk training. This is time you have set aside for yourself. Enjoy it!

1) According to the survey by the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) released April 2008, http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs047/1101981701899/archive/1102058079601.html. 2) According to the survey by the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) released April 2007, http://www.nsga.org/public/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1511. 3) According to Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.