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No doubt 2017 will dawn with the annual gush of health and fitness resolutions. That’s fine...if you have a plan for implementing and sustaining a workable strategy that will actually help you lose weight, manage stress, build muscle strength and mass, or just plain feel better every day.
Start by walking. Here’s how.
Plan ahead
The essential element to a fitness walking strategy is to do a little advanced planning. I love Plot-A-Route, which allows you to plan walking routes as you would like and save them all in a free account. Their tool is easy to understand and use and feature-rich (you can see terrain, adjust time and speed estimates, download, and print your routes).
Before you do your first walk, get yourself a good pair of athletic shoes. In my experience, the best choice is a good pair of running shoes. If you have problematic feet, go to a running store that has a treadmill (such as Big River Running Company); try on and walk in several different brands and models before making a final choice.
Find a place
When you map your walks through your neighborhood or your favorite park, make sure you take full account of personal safety issues. Walking through a desolate park after dark is probably not a good idea. Forest Park is obviously a great option for people living in the city, but the suburbs are also filled with terrific options. Babler Park, Faust Park, and Chesterfield Central Park are all accessible and walkable.
Map a route that’s right for you
Start by mapping three routes that are suited to your current experience and fitness level. A newbie might start with 1, 2, and 3 mile routes.
Create a strategy
A walking strategy is built around three walk intensities: light, medium, and hard.
During light walks, move at user-friendly steady pace, not really taxing yourself (this not the same as strolling, which is how most people walk and is generally around 2 mph). Light intensity walks will generally be around 3 mph.
Medium walks are more purposeful. You are trying to maintain good posture while you walk faster than normal, aiming for around 3.5 mph; bear mind that most people will break into a light jog at around 4 mph.
The hard walks are where the magic happens. The main element in hard walks is hills, God’s treadmill. Work hard up the hill and use the downhill to recover. Do enough hill walking, and you will build buns of steel.
Practice
As you begin your strategy, keep most of your walks in the medium intensity range, dipping down to light intensity only occasionally. Play little games with yourself during your walks: walk as fast as you can for 30 or 60 seconds, then walk at your usual pace until your breathing recovers before you do another burst. Alternatively, pick out milestones on your walk, such as distant building or object and walk fast to it, recovering before you pick out your next milestone.
None of this has to follow a rigid strategy. Listening to music that pumps you up (as long as it does not completely obscure noises in your environment) can help you walk farther and faster. You don’t need an app to keep track of anything. Just keep a little notebook with notations on the date, how far, how fast, and how you felt. That’s it.
Ramp it up
There are two easy ways to intensify your walking workout, both of which will help to build overall strength and muscle tone—something you wouldn’t typically expect from walking.
The first is to practice weighted carries, where you hold the heaviest object you can safely carry in various positions to build muscle. You can get a couple of inexpensive military surplus duffle bags and put sand in them or buy a complete sandbag system designed for exercise, such as this one from Brute Force training.
The second is to add calisthenics, emulating a Navy SEAL training method. Using either landmarks or a timer or pedometer on your phone, periodically drop and do 5 to 10 reps of your favorite calisthenic, such as push-ups, burpees, mountain climbers, or leg raises. How many reps you do is less important than doing each rep well.
We undersell the value of walking because we think it’s not enough, as though gym memberships, apps, and smart watches can replace actual work. Spend your money on good shoes and a sandbag kit. You can laugh at everyone stopping to fidget with their smartwatch when you cruise by them.
Vik Khanna is the strength and conditioning coach at the Missouri Karate Association in Chesterfield. He is also a physician assistant with experience in internal medicine and rehabilitation. Khanna holds an undergraduate degree in exercise science and physical education, as well as a master’s from The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
