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Walking has been known to reduce the risk of
heart diseases, colon cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, stroke,
and other similar disorders. And walking is one of the most
effective exercises to lose weight and build muscles.
Weight
can be viewed as the result of two processes. The first process
is the eating of calories and the second is the burning of calories.
If a person eats more calories than he can burn, then he gains
weight. Thus, to lose weight, a person must eat less calories
and burn more. The calories that a person burns must come from
the stored fat in his body. One pound of body fat is equal to
about 3,500 calories. If you plan to lose about one to two pounds
a week, then you should burn an equivalent number of calories.
And the right kind of walking exercise can help you burn these
calories.
How should
one walk in order to lose pounds? First, you must do a warm
up walk. This is an easy walk that should last between five
to ten minutes. This warm up walk will signal your muscles that
you are about to engage in a pound-losing walking exercise and
that your muscles should burn calories from stored fat.
After the
warm-up walk, do some stretching or flexibility exercises before
you begin walking at a faster pace. This faster pace should
be similar to walking when you know that you are about ten minutes
late for an important appointment. You can hear your breathing
but it is not too labored because you can still carry on sentence-long
conversations. When you walk at such an intense and determined
pace, more calories are burned because more muscles (including
those of the arms) are involved.
This body-shaping
walking exercise should last between thirty minutes to one hour.
If you are a beginner doing this walking exercise, it is best
that you concentrate on how far you can walk before you work
on your speed. To have an idea of how far should you ideally
walk, you should remember that for an average 160-pound person,
walking one mile is equivalent to burning 100 calories. If you
are already walking twenty miles a week, then you should attempt
to increase your speed. Aim to cover one mile in less than thirteen
minutes.
Once you
are done with the fast-paced body-shaping walk, slow down and
continue walking at a more comfortable rate for the next five
minutes. You are now giving your muscles the signals that you
are about to be done. After the slow-paced walk, do gentle stretching
exercises again. Then, you are set and ready to tackle the next
activities of the day. |
