Fitness Walking

Americans, on the whole, are fatter than just about any other group of people in the world.  They also have some of the highest rates of Type-II Diabetes and heart problems in the world.  Why are we so fat?  Weight gain is usually a combination of two things: an unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise.  Most people, when they decide to try and lose weight, only tackle part of the problem.  They try dieting or taking pills or living off of lemon juice and cayenne pepper for awhile, only to find it doesn't make any difference.

Although a healthy diet is important for losing weight, it’s still only part of the equation.  If you cut down your calories but still sit on a couch or an office chair every day, you’re not going to lose much weight.  Interestingly enough, many people are happy to try dieting, but there aren’t many who only work at the other side of the equation: exercising.

So why don’t people exercise?  Part of it is attached to our mentality about exercising.  “Exercising” brings up images of sweaty, unhappy people lifting weights in a smelly gym, and it seems like a lot of work.  However, exercising doesn’t mean you’re going to have to pump iron for a few hours every day.  In fact, lots of things are considered exercising, from playing a pick-up game of basketball to gardening to just taking a walk around the block. 

Most studies have found that a half hour of exercise every day is enough to keep you healthy, and that half hour doesn’t even have to be all at once.  You can skip rope for ten minutes in the morning, take a walk for ten minutes after lunch, and then another walk around the block for ten minutes when you get home at night. That takes care of your exercise for health maintenance for the day. 

“But wait a minute,” you say, “How can walking be good for you?  I walk every day!”  The average American walks for only about 1/3 of a mile every day. However, fitness walking is a great way to lose weight, especially because it’s so available.  If you want to go swimming you have to go to a pool, change clothes, swim, change again, and go home or to work. But if you’re taking part in fitness walking, all you usually have to do is change your shoes and walk out the front door.  Fitness walking is also an attractive exercise choice because it’s low-impact and virtually injury-free. It serves as a nice warm up for running or jogging as well. 

Another reason people resist exercising is the time factor. With already busy schedules, how do you fit it in? That's what makes fitness walking ideal, it is easy to incorporate into any schedule. If you walk fifteen minutes as you begin your day every morning and fifteen minutes again every evening, you’ve taken care of your exercise for the day, without adding a ton of pressure to your schedule.

Of course, you can also make fitness walking more interesting and enjoyable by varying your daily routine. Try locating a nearby park or natural area where you can walk in the woods. Maybe there's a paved walkway along a river in your city. Walking indoors at your local mall is a great option during inclement weather. Dogs make great walking partners and almost guarantee your walk will be fun and interesting.

The most important part here is to get up and get going. Pretty soon daily fitness walking will become a habit and you won't want to live a day without it!