CHARLES DICKENS
i. CHECK
WITH YOUR DOCTOR
If you have been inactive for some time, or
have a diagnosed medical problem which may inhibit you talking exercise, or are
unsure about your current state of health, then check with your doctor first.
Show him this book and seek his advice before staring out with a vigorous
walk-ing programme.
2. BUILD SLOWLY
Even if
you are reasonably fit and active, you will still need to start slowly and ease
yourself gently into a regular walking programme. Doctors agree that there are
no risks with regular exercise as long as you warm-up first and gently.
So put on a
comfortable pair of walking shoes and do the warm-up exercises in Part 1. Then
start out with a 10-minute walk and gradually increase your walk to 20 minutes
over two weeks. At this point you are not concerned with distance, speed or
target heart rates – simply walk – ing and building a regular habit.
As you increase your
stride and get into a good rhythm, walk at a speed that feels comfortable.
Listen to your body-it’s the best judge of how you feel. When you’ve finished
your walk you should feel relaxed and refreshed. If you feel tired, you are
going too fast. Conversational walking pace is a good guide: you should be able
to hold a conversation without getting out of breath.
Since some
of you are likely to be using muscles that you haven’t used for years, you can
expect some soreness as part of the natural process of strengthening muscles,
but too much is unhealthy. If you experience this, then give your- self a few
days rest before walking again.
After two
weeks you should be able to walk for 20 minutes comfortably without straning
yourself, but for those of you who still find this difficult, then continue
walking foe as many weeks as you need before moving on to the more vigorous
walking workouts in Chapter 1.
3. WATCH YOUR WEIGHT
You will feel better
and have more stamina and energy if you attain your ideal weight. One of the
best ways to lose weight is regular aerobic walking. For every 30 minutes
walking you lose around 200 calories on average, and if you com-bine this with
The Wall Slim Diet, then you will
The average
woman in her 20s has about 27 per cent body fat. But the time she’s 50 that has
increased to a whopping 42 per cent! For men, 18 per cent grow to 30-35 per
cent for men, 18 per cent can grow to 30-35 per cent by the age of 50. As
muscle is replaced with fat and metabolic rate tends to slow down with
increase- ing age, then it is even more important to exer- cise and eat
healthily.
4. WALK WITH OTHERS
The historian, G. M. Trevelyan, who was a great walker,
said: ‘Walking is a land of many paths and no paths, where everyone goes his
own way and is right, ’Some people will want to walk alone; like Trevelyan they
find a sense of independence in the great outdoors. But many people will prefer
company, and walking with a friend, spouse or the family is an excellent way to
get mptivated and build a habit to last a lifetime.
You may want to
organize your own walking club in the area where you live, or at work. Some
people form walking clubs to walk during their lunch hour or after work.
5. KEEP IT UP
At least 25 per cent of people who start exercise programmes
give up in the first week. So don’t exercise too hard and then give up through
boredom or injury. Take it slowly, keep motivated and keep walking. You will
soon start to see results, and as you discover for yourself how easy it is to
walk regularly, you will find that you want to get out as often as possible and
knock up all those aerobic miles.
Don’t be
disheartened if there are days when you don’t want, when your enthusiasm fails
you. Another day will come around and you will be bursting to get outside in
the open air and clock up more miles. As your aerobic fitness increases, the
feeling of increased stamina, energy and vitality will be enough to get you out
and about.
Special Considerations
It has been estimated that 50 per
cent of the decline in biological functions between the ages of 30 and 70 is
due to disuse. The so-called ‘diseases of physical inactivity. The following
conditions can all be relieved by walking regularly, but this advice is not a
substitute for expert medical advice. If you suffer from one of these
conditions you should consult your doctor before starting a walking programme.
Can walking help my back
pain?
Four out of five people
experience back pain at some time in their lives. Back pain accounts for 6.5
per cent of all visits to the doctor, and it causes the loss of 67 million
working days a years in Britain at a cost of &3 billion
Year of inactivity – too much
time spent sitting and too little time spent exercising – causes back problems
due to bad posture which weakens back muscles. Back pain can be alleviated by
building strength and flexibility in the muscles that support your spine,
particularly the hamstrings, quadric- ceps, abdominals, lower back and
laterals.
‘Taking a walk regularly is one
of the best things you can do for your back,’ says Dr John Regan, a surgeon at
the Texas Back Institute. ‘it promotes muscular development and increases
circulation.’
Walking, which is a low-stress,
low-impact activity, will help strengthen your back and help tone stretch your
back muscles. And regular walking promotes weight control and good posture and
helps reduce muscle tension – key factors in maintaining a healthy back.
Carrying around excess weight streains back muscles bad posture and increase
compression of the spinal discs. Remember, always warm up before walking and cool
down after your walking session.
If you have a back problem, you
may actually feel better walking than sitting. According to Swedish back expert
Dr Alf Nachemson, walking puts less strain on the spine than does unsupported
sitting. Walking strengthens the muscles in the pelvis and lower back and the
forward movement of the body reduces the force of gravity on your back.
To develop whole body whole
fitness and full mobility in the back, you should follow the simple stretching
and strengthen-ing exercises in The Whole – Body Workout.
Can walking help my
arthritis?
Doctor used to advise arthritic
patients against exercising but it is now more common for doctors to prescribe
exercise. Walking helps to strengthen the muscles around joints, relieves pain
when rub together and can prevent joint inflammation.
It’s important to take it gently,
rest frequently and don’t walk through pain. Warm-up thoroughly first, walk
only as far as feels comfortable and increase the length of your walk
gradually. Discuss the problem with your doctor. You may need to do some
additional strengthening and stertcging exercises of the type shown in The
Whole –Body Workout.
Because arthritis often causes
depression leading to lethargy and inactivity, walking helps because it is a
natural mood elevator, releasing beta-endorphins (relaxation hormones) in the
brain which increase your sense of well being.
Can walking help prevent
osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis (thinning of the
bones) is a condition that gradually robs bones of their strength, leaving them
so brittle that an action as simple as tying a shoelace can result in a
fracture. As we age, the mineral content of our bones decreases, their texture
become thinner and there is a gradual decrease in skeletal strength. Osteoporosis
affects many post- menopausal women due to the decrease of the decrease of the
hormone oestrogen and it affects women more than men – 1 in 40 men but 1 in 4
women suffer from this condition.
The following are risk factors
that can all be modified:
·
Being
sedentary
·
Inadequate
calcium intake
·
Cigarette
smoking
·
Being
underweight
·
A deficiency
of vitamin D
Bones are similar to muscles that they shrink
from inactivity and benefit from exercise. Walking, as a weight-bearing exercise,
can help your bones maintain and also gain strength and density. The force of
gravity, and the physical act of walking, causes your muscles to pull on your
bones which stimulates the bone to take in more strengthening calcium.
Calcium and exercise are the main keys in the
prevention of osteoporosis. A good calcium diet nourishes and maintains bones
and regular exercise helps to maintain a strong skeleton. Sources of calcium
are milk and milk products, green, leafy vegetables, citrus fruits and
shellfish.
Some experts think that a reduction in regular
physical activity is the major reason for a rise in osteoporosis in the past 30
years. William Evans, PhD, of Tufts University in the USA, has studied the
effects of walking for the treatment of osteoporosis and he says: ‘from what we
see, exercise may be one of the best ways to stop or prevent age-related bone
loss,’ body’s sensitivity to insulin and increases the uptake of blood sugar
(glucose) by the muscles.
And walking can actually reduce your chance
of developing diabetes. That’s (the lancet, September 1991). One group of
nurses exercised regularly – brisk walking, jogging, cycling, etc. the other
group took no exercise and twice as many of them developed diabetes.
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