Walking Workout

After a very busy and successful Walk to Work week (which included many non-walk-to-work-trips), it seems the weather is getting warmer providing an ample opportunity to up your walking quotient.

One of the prizes in Harrow's walking challenge was a copy of a book on walking away the pounds. Whereas walking can help reduce and control weight, my recent discovery that it can replace a cardio workout at the gym has left me craving more walks.

The aim of a cardio workout is to raise your heart rate to its optimum level for burning fat and typical ways of doing this include the stationary bike, stairmaster, treadmill etc which imply fast paced running, cycling and so on. On trying to attain the target heart rate for burning fat for a 30 year old (Heart rate of 152 bpm), walking on a treadmill on an incline at a brisk walking speed managed to achieve this in less time than on a stationary bike. Brisk walking does not mean light jogging but simply walking fast.

Walking in Harrow on a hilly terrain at a brisk speed will help not only lose fat but increase muscle tone in the calves, strengthen the thighs and provide a welcome breath of fresh air and the above experiment comparing results from walking and cycling in stationary gym equipment supports this.

So if you've been wanting to lose weight but without the gym membership, invest in yourself, grab a heart rate monitor and join one of the led walks. Once you've found a route you like you can try it yourself as a workout. Walking really can be a great workout!