Here are some tips specifically designed to help you become more fit.
If you are new to exercising, it’s best to start slowly, increasing the intensity and length of your activity as you go. You should aim for a comfortable pace that doesn’t leave you exhausted. A good easy way to monitor your pace is the “Talk Test”: if it’s difficult to speak, slow down; if talking is too easy, speed up.
As your stamina improves, your normal routine will become too easy. It’s time to step it up! You can challenge yourself by increasing your walking speed and the incline.
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Tips for walking faster:
- Walk tall. Look forward, (not at the ground) gazing about 20 feet ahead. Your chin should be level and your head up.
- Shoulders down, back and relaxed. Chest forward
- Tighten your abs and buttocks, flatten your back and tilt your pelvis slightly forward. Pretend you are walking along a straight line
- Bend your arms in slightly less than a 90 degree angle. Swing arms front to back (not side to side-arms should not come across your body) Do not swing arms higher than sternum (breastbone). Swing arms faster and feet will follow.
- Push off your toes. Concentrate on striking with the heel, rolling through the step and pushing off your toes.
- Resist the urge to elongate your steps. To go faster…take smaller faster steps!
- Breathe naturally, take deep breaths, rhythmic breaths- to get maximum amount of oxygen through your system.
*Want to increase your endurance? First, increase your time, then work on intensity. Push yourself an extra 10% until you get to your time goal. Then you can start to make your walk more intense. To increase the intensity, you could add short intervals of light jogging into your walk. If you’d like, lengthen the jog intervals while decreasing the walk intervals. Before you know it, you’ll be running the entire time.
*For more information contact Linda Green or Julee Stearns in the Curry Health Center’s Health Enhancement Dept. (406) -243-2809 |
