Humans are bipedal creatures. We are designed to walk on two legs. Just look at the pleasure on a toddler’s face as he takes his first steps – pleasure that only increases as he learns to use his legs to run, jump, skip and so on.
Fitness walking programs were unheard of in “Clan of the Cave Bear” days. With just two legs and arms and his wits to keep himself fed, watered and sheltered, prehistoric man was either fit – or dead.
However, modern ways of living (probably from as far back as the invention of the wheel) and eating (obtaining food from the refrigerator rather than the tree) mean that we need to build ‘fitness’ in as a lifestyle option rather than taking it for granted. Enter fitness walking and fitness walking programs – walking regularly in a structured manner that leads to greater physical fitness for the walker.
Defined as 'America’s latest fitness craze' and catching on rapidly elsewhere, so many benefits accrue to walking for fitness that it’s hard to list them. Strengthened lungs and heart get on with doing the jobs for which they were made, sending oxygenated blood around your body and getting rid of wastes, including carbon dioxide. More oxygen to the cells burns fat and you lose weight. Fitness walking has been shown to lessen the risk of heart disease and stroke, arthritis and osteoporosis. As well, muscles and bones work better after regular, low-impact exercise so you have more energy than before, which in turn leads to greater self-esteem and reduced stress as you cope with life differently. All this for doing something that is free and enjoyable and doesn’t even need a gym membership – walking.
People slot into walking for fitness programs at their own level, aiming to increase their stamina, the distance they walk and, possibly, their speed, as time goes by. The aim is to be comfortable while fitness walking, but not so comfortable that you can carry out a full conversation at the same time. You should be breathing hard enough that a few sentences have to suffice. Working towards a fast (but not too fast) pulse rate at a pace that makes you perspire just a little, is the way to go.
Various accessories, and of course, walking with others, turn fitness walking into a sport. Use a pedometer to count steps (10,000 a day for optimum fitness – a couch potato will walk about 3000 steps in an average day). Check out walking clothing – there are some wonderfully well-designed shoes – and walking poles; join an outdoor walking group in your area, or, if outdoors is impossible in winter, save up to put a treadmill in your basement.
It’s said that Charles Dickens went for a 20-mile country walk after he finished writing each day. Actress Suzanne Somers likes to walk 'straight up mountains' to keep in shape. John Glenn, famous astronaut, took up fitness walking when the impact of running became too hard on his knees. We walkers are in great company.
Peter Stockwell is a writer, walker, birder and author of The Senior Walking Fitness Blog, helping young and old to lifetime fitness.