Tips on power walking

HELLO people, hope you are fine. This week I will digress a bit from the normal Fashion and Beauty column. I have had so many people asking about the best way to do “power walking”.

Though I am a keen power walker, I had to do some research on this topic to acquire enough information to start power walking.

Walking is a simple and natural way of moving, but with proper technique, you can turn casual walking into power walking or fitness walking.

Power walking is a low-impact way to improve cardiovascular endurance and total body strength.

Some of the benefits of power walking include helping to tone and strengthen muscles, improve physical health and burn the same amount of calories as jogging. Please check with your physician prior to starting a fitness programme, if you have suffered some form of illness.

So what you will need first are walking shoes, comfortable clothing and of cause a bottle of water.

Before you start any exercise, you need to warm up with exercises such as jumping rope or jumping jacks for about five minutes.

Stretch your muscles to prevent injury. Perform calf, quadriceps, hamstring, hip flexor, shoulder and triceps stretches once your muscles have become warm enough to stretch.

Choose a casual walk for five minutes for a low-impact option. So before you start walking, place your arms in a 90-degree angle and keep your back upright.

Position your head in a neutral position in line with your spine. Keep your gaze looking forward; do not look at the ground. Open your mouth slightly to ensure proper breathing. Tighten your gluts (bottom) and abdominals. Then start walking.

Step with your heel first and then distribute your weigh onto your toe while using your hips to push you forward.

Alternate arms and legs forward to maintain walking in a straight line.

As you arrive to the end of your walk, cool down by slowing your pace and dropping your arms by your sides.

Continue decreasing your pace until your heart begins to gradually return to normal.

Stretch each muscle for 20 to 30 seconds each and then relax. Start with a small distance, say of one kilometre around your block. Then add another street, then another. A good power walk can take up-to five kilometres.

The best times to walk are early morning or early evening, when the heat is regularised.

Tips

◆ Do not bring arms across the body.

Arms should move in a forward direction. Wrists should pass your hip bone when moving them back and forth.

◆ Do not swing your elbows higher than your breastbone.

Warnings

◆ Do not walk with hand or ankle weights. Adding weights to your walk will not increase the calories burned, but may cause injury to your joints, tendons and ligaments.

That is it for this week folks, I hope this helps you correct your walking or helps you start walking.

Until next week, God bless!

Fashion Diva can be contacted on 0719 933845 during working hours (only).