Walking is a great exercise for getting in shape, losing weight and achieving a whole host of major health benefits. It’s a low impact way to exercise that doesn’t require any special equipment, training or expertise. You can do it just about anywhere – there’s no need to visit the gym – which means that there are no expensive monthly membership fees either. You can schedule it into your daily routine whenever it’s most convenient for you. Fit your walking into one long session or break it into shorter spells over the course of the day. It’s your choice.
One item of essential walking equipment is a comfortable pair of shoes or boots. If your shoes give you blisters or are uncomfortable, then sticking to your walking exercise plan will be difficult. So be sure that you have a good fitting, comfortable pair. You can, if you wish, get yourself some of the latest designs of exercise shoes which help to increase the amount of work that your lower body muscles carry out during normal walking activity.
There are a wide range of different makes on the market – Skechers Shape Ups, Reeboks Easy Tones, Fit flops exercise sandals and Masai Barefoot Technology are amongst the best known and most popular – but new brands are appearing on the market all the time. There are some variations, but the common concept appears to be a specially engineered sole which increases the amount of work done performed your leg and butt muscles. This helps you to ramp up the effectiveness of your workout and allows you to get the maximum return from your walking routine.
The majority of health professionals recommend a target of 10,000 steps daily in order to obtain the numerous health benefits achievable. Many walkers find that using a pedometer can be a handy motivational tool to help them add more steps into their day and work up to the target figure. Pedometers are fairly inexpensive today but, if you believe that having one would help you to keep your motivation up, then you should be sure to get a decent quality one.
A recent study found that a high percentage of pedometers were inaccurate – by as much as 50% in some cases. It seemed that inaccurate pedometers tended to overestimate the number of steps – meaning that someone who was walking for 5,000 paces daily might be under the false impression that they were reaching their 10,000 step target. This is because cheaper pedometers usually use a hairspring technology which is factory calibrated during manufacture. These tend to become less and less accurate as the pedometer ages – with an increasing tendency to overestimate the number of steps being the norm.
Better models employ coiled spring technology and dual accelerometer sensors which means that they have greater accuracy, a longer lifespan and that they can be carried in your pocket or a bag instead of being worn on your belt. An Omron pedometer typically has an accuracy of plus or minus 5%. Other quality brands include Yamax, Taneka and New Lifestyles.
If you want to check how accurate your pedometer is there are two simple tests you can do. The first is to simply count out 100 steps and compare it with what your pedometer says. The second is to note the reading on your pedometer when you first sit down – at your desk at work for example – and then to check it again after being seated for half an hour. If it rises significantly due to your normal movements whilst seated then it will overestimate your step count.
Nowadays, the large majority of pedometers are of the digital variety. They generally have a memory and you can usually see your results for a week long period – which is handy if you wish to keep tabs on your progress. A lot of them even let you download load your results into your computer via a USB connection so that you can keep track of your results over time. You can normally change the way in which your results are displayed as well. Choose from the number of steps, the distance covered or the number of calories burned – whichever helps you to keep motivated.