About a year and a half ago I began looking for a baseline for good health. What can you do almost every day without getting injured? Walking... What will raise your pulse rate and lower your blood pressure? Walking... What is an activity that will not lead to burn out-- something you can do year around? Walking... And it becomes a meditation. You breath deeply. You hear the birds sing. You smell the flowers and plants.
The notion that 10,000 steps per day is the key to fitness-- proved to be true. I've been feeling better since I embarked on this plan. I don't always make 10,000 steps per day, but I get pretty close maybe five days per week. And here's the key-- do at least three of those miles in a brisk walk.
"Walk like you're headed for an appointment, but you're not running late," is a good mantra to follow.
So today I happened to walk 60 active minutes in my favorite hilly neighborhood of Austin-- called Northwest Hills. Northwest Hills is an upscale neighborhood just a little north of the center of town.
Wow-- the advantage of a 60 minute walk was that my Omron pedometer told me the distance I covered-- 3.68 miles per house. I also had the stat on my steps per minute-- 119 steps. So, if I can maintain that rate for sixty minutes I'm getting a good walk accomplished. And I recommend it for everybody!
Many people have a psychological attachment to jogging. They feel a real workout has been achieved if they jog, whereas walking feels kind of weak and pathetic, a sign that they're not able to run. But think about it.... if you cover 3-4 miles, what's the difference what form of locomotion you use! And if you walk briskly your chance of injury is much reduced.
Best wishes with you walk! Strive for 10,000 steps for the day-- that's five miles. And go for a brisk walk of at least thirty minutes per day.
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