|
Kick Butt Walking for Weight Loss Workouts
Many of us tend to over look the idea of walking for weight loss. The type of walking I am talking about isn’t the nice, relaxing stroll you take with a friend to catch up on gossip. I’m talking about getting your heart rate up, breaking a sweat, getting results and taking advantage of the fact that walking is naturally simple and low impact. Just Getting Started? Now, if you are just getting started or if you have been away from fitness for awhile, don’t just jump into these high intensity walks I have designed. Ease yourself into a walking program to avoid injury. For the first couple of weeks, walk at a steady pace at an intensity that is comfortable for you keeping your rate of perceived exertion around a 5 for 20-30 minutes. If you need to break it up into three, ten minutes session that is okay and still, very beneficial. Focus on integrating fitness back into your life and developing a walking for weight loss habit with the goal of reaching a level of fitness that enables you to complete these kick butt walking workouts. Once you are comfortable, start to integrate intervals into your walks. Intervals are short burst of high intensity followed by a recovery period. Try to pick it up to an RPE of 7-8 for 2-3 minutes followed by a recovery for 2-3 minutes (5RPE). As you get stronger, try the walking for weight loss workouts below to increase your calorie burn. (pre-designed workouts at the bottom of the page) Seasoned Walkers/Dedicated Runners If you are a seasoned walker or even a dedicated runner, jump right in. Don’t think you won’t get a good workout. I designed one kick butt interval walking workout that my husband did twice a week in preparation for OCS (Officer Candidate School). His running times had never been better. I worked with a personal trainer that trained marathon goal oriented clients by integrating hill walking intervals to prepare them and strengthen their legs. So, if you are walking for weight loss, training for a race, have knee problems, despise running or just want to switch it up, these walking workouts will kick your butt and they will still deliver results. The key is getting your heart rate up and getting out of your comfort zone. The Kick Butt Plan A steady pace walk at night is a great way to increase your activity level but it shouldn’t be your main form of cardio when weight loss is your goal. Intervals are the key! Not only are intervals huge time savers, as you don’t have to invest 45-60 minutes as you would with steady-pace cardio, but Intervals boost your calorie burn, elevate your metabolism for a longer period of time and shed pounds. You can use these walking for weight loss workouts as your primary form of cardio or a supplement to your current cardio plan. If you choose to use it as your primary form of cardio, sweat it out for 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week and cross train once or twice a week. If you are supplementing with walking, challenge yourself once or twice a week for 20-30 minutes. A Few Reminders... • Watch your posture… stand tall with your shoulders back, abs pulled in and head straight ahead (Don’t lean forward/slouch) • Don’t lean on the treadmill or hold on…you’re cheating! • Pump those arms to help you up the hills and take your workout to the next level • Don’t forget to cross train…try the elliptical or spinning to train the muscles that walking doesn’t • Always warm-up for 3-5 minutes to get the blood circulating to the exercising muscles and cool-down for 3-5 minutes to bring your body back at a safe pace.
Why Intervals? Here’s how it works in terms of cardiovascular strength. In short, intervals force the body to adapt and become more efficient at delivering oxygen to the working muscles (legs in this case) and, in turn, break down the lactic acid build up that is responsible for the burning sensation you get in your legs. At the same time, the higher intensity portion of the intervals enable the muscles to develop an increased tolerance to the lactic acid build-up, while also strengthening your heart and naturally improving your cardiovascular ability. As you improve cardiovascularly, you will be able to work harder and increase your calorie burn!
Your Kick Butt Walking Workouts
Related PagesPre-designed Elliptical Workouts
Leave Walking for Weight Loss for Real Moms Real Fit home page |
