Is Walking All You Need To Stay Fit?
The short answer is no. Brett Blumenthal, a trainer and co-founder of healthy lifestyle website SheerBalance.com, says that while walking 30 minutes a day for 3 days a week may improve your cardiovascular health, it isn’t enough if you want to be in good physical shape.
Walking is low-impact and easy enough no matter your fitness level, but “saying that walking is the only thing you need is like saying that gas is all your car needs to function properly,” Blumenthal says. The wellness expert with more than 15 years’ experience offers 4 tips to help you gain the most from walking.
Intensity – You need to push yourself and not merely stroll along the sidewalk. For any activity to be beneficial, your heart rate has to pushed up to between 65% and 85% of its maximum rate.
Challenge – Pace yourself to figure out how far you walk over 30 minutes, and how many steps you take. Once you’re comfortable with that rate, challenge yourself to walk a little faster and longer; you need to keep pushing yourself so you don’t fall into a rut and the exercise no longer benefits you.
Strength Training – Introduce weights into your walks. You’ll burn more calories, build muscle and boost your metabolism.
Healthy Diet – Eating properly plays a major role in weight-loss and maintaining a healthy metabolic rate.
Celeb Diet Doc
There are a number of studies suggesting that brisk walking is as good as vigorous exercise in reducing the incidence of heart disease. This one from the NEJM shows that women who either walked briskly or exercised vigorously at least 2.5 hours per week had a risk reduction in heart disease related events of approximately 30 percent. So yes walking can keep you fit! And I like his suggestions on how to get more out of your walking. Walk on!
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[...] http://www.celebritydietdoctor.com/is-walking-all-you-need-to-stay-fit/Strength Training – Introduce weights into your walks. You’ll burn more calories, build muscle and boost your metabolism. Healthy Diet – Eating properly plays a major role in weight-loss and maintaining a healthy metabolic rate. Celeb Diet Doc There are a number of studies suggesting that brisk walking is as good as vigorous exercise in … Become a Guest Author. Reach over 250000 readers every month. Start now by submitting your post to the Celebrity Diet Doctor. … [...]