We all know that walking is one of the safest, most effective and easiest forms of exercise. Personally, walking was one of the most significant contributors to my 100-pound weight loss.
When I first decided to start taking care of myself, I knew I’d need to exercise. But, at 230 pounds, there wasn’t much I could do that didn’t cause me pain. But I knew I could walk, so that’s what I did.
Every night, I’d put on my tennis shoes, hook my Walkman to the elastic band of my size 22 shorts, turn it up to full volume – I was in a Smashing Pumpkins phase at the time – and head out to conquer the sidewalks that surrounded my apartment building. Twenty minutes later, I’d be back in my apartment, covered in sweat and huffing and puffing.
My return to health wasn’t pretty.
But I kept at it and soon my twenty-minute walks became forty-minute walks, then sixty and seventy. After awhile, walking became too easy so I added ankle weights to increase the challenge. Then I progressed to exercise videos, running and eventually joined a gym.
Fast-forward several years and I’m now 100 pounds lighter and enjoy all kinds of exercise. But there’s nothing like a good walk to clear the mind as well as keep the body healthy. I recently came across important walking information from Hermosa Beach clinic AIM Sports Medicine and I wanted to pass it on for your good health…
Walking is a great form of exercise. It is lower impact than running and other forms of cardio, however it does come with repetitive stresses, and joint forces approximately 5-times your body weight.
In order to avoid unnecessary repetitive stress to your hips, knees and ankles. mix up your walking gait. Incorporate walking sideways or backwards, try an exaggerated trunk rotation (add an arm reach), or karaoke, etc.
These techniques will help off-load the repetitive joint stress by moving the load to different parts of the joint.
If walking has helped you reach your goals, please share in the Comments section or email to [email protected]
{ 1 comment }
