Hello all you knowledgable people

I was curious to find out from anyone who has some knowledge of this - I just did a calculation on Yahoo maps of the walking path that I do and came up with this:

Monday - Friday - morning walk:

3 miles one way in 55 minutes (mix of uphill, flat surface, downhill)

Saturday and Sunday

3.2 miles total in 50 minutes (mix of uphill, flat surface, downhill)

My question to the knowledgable is - is this a good pace to help me in my LC way to weight loss? Should I be doing something else besides in the way of cardio/aroebics? I'm right now looking for some way to do some resistance training (see post on Total Gym) but wanted some opinions on this.

Thanks,
Tam

I'm not an expert, but have spent the last week reading up on walking.

If you do an internet search on "power walking" you'll find lots of useful info. The sites I've found say that 12-15 minutes per mile is what you should be striving for. It will take a while to get there. You're doing about 20 minutes a mile. That's the speed I'm at right now, and it's fast enough to break out into a sweat at.

The biggest tip they have to increase your speed is to make your strides faster, not longer.

The sites also say that power walking (or fitness walking) is as good a workout as jogging, with less strain on the knees.

walking is great for many reasons. It gets you to breathe more deeply, it stimulates the immune system, it's pretty low impact...it's the best all-around health booster you can do.

If you're walking hills, pushing on the uphills so that you're breathing harder, you are getting the sort of interval cardio training Phillips and others recommend.

You can do a lot of good resistance training work with nothing more than body weight (push ups, sit-ups, tricep dips, squats and lunges, calf raises) and a $10 fitness band.

Add a couple deep stretches per week, and IMO, that's a beautifully rounded fitness routine. If you want to do more in six months or a year, that's great. Life is long...find activities you enjoy, and do them because you like them, rather than because they'll help you lose weight. They will do the latter, but not in any miraculous way. The good lifetime habit of beloved exercise will see you through to better health and firmer muscles for a longer life.

HTH!

Ive been walking for three weeks and now I find out that my lower legs- the calves are even bigger and muscular than I started out. Im afraid to wear skirts because Id like to have thin legs not muscles on them- what should I do. stop walking and focusing on my legs- I still need to lose the fat on my thighs and buttocks- what will happen to my muscles on my calves- will they turn to fat? please someone answer my question. I hate these muscular calves- what a girl to do?

Just curious, spiceyfish - do you really eat only protein - nothing else?

The fat will come off of it's own accord and in the order it wants to. Unfortunately you can't spot lose fat from your body without surgery.

Excessively muscular calves after only 3 weeks of WALKING? wow. If your metabolism can build muscle that fast without any other resistance training I wouldn't worry about your thighs and buttocks - you use those muscles to walk, too. They'll catch up to your calves. Muscles doen't turn to fat, they just get smaller if you stop using them.

Even though a lot of folks can't swim, just remember that thirty minutes of water walking is equivalent to two hours of walking on dry land!


Chlorine is not a chemical it's my perfume!