Boost Your Walking Workout
by Carol Krucoff

When Walking magazine debuted in 1986, comedian George Carlin seemed incredulous that anyone would buy a periodical about something as basic as putting one foot in front of the other.

"What's next?" he scoffed on the Tonight Show. "A magazine about ...breathing?"

Such skepticism, however, did little to dampen the growth of fitness walking, which now ranks as the most popular physical activity in the nation. In 1997, 14.5 million Americans counted themselves as regular walkers, according to American Sports Data Inc., a Hartsdale, N.Y. sports and fitness research firm.

Walking is our favorite exercise for five reasons, says Walking magazine's editor-at-large Mark Fenton: It's easy, effective, enjoyable, economical and empowering.

Stepping Lively
"We get loads of letters from people who say, 'Walking changed my life,'" Fenton says. "Often they'll say that,when they started out, they could barely walk for 10 minutes, and now they walk in 10K races. Mostly, they tell us how walking's helped them feel better and look better."

Beginners can start with a 10-minute walk, then add a few more minutes each week. How far and how fast to go depends on your goals. To boost your health and reduce your risk of numerous chronic diseases, walking 30 minutes a day, six or seven days a week at a "brisk" pace is sufficient.(Accumulating several shorter bouts of activity--such as three, 10-minute walks per day--can have similar benefits.)

If your goal is optimum cardiovascular health, the American Heart Association recommends walking continuously for 30 to 60 minutes, four to six times a week--or 30 minutes every day--at a pace you consider "somewhat hard" to "hard".

To enhance your walking workout, Fenton offers this advice:

1. Walk Tall. Americans have notoriously poor posture, with rounded shoulders and swaybacks. Counter these bad habits by gently contracting your stomach muscles to flatten your lower back. Don't slouch or hunch your shoulders. Instead, think about elongating your spine, and be sure to look forward, not down in the gutter.

2. Take quicker, not longer, steps. To pick up your pace, step more quickly and let your stride length come naturally. If you take 130 steps per minute, you'll be walking at a pace of about four miles per hour pace, which will give your cardiorespiratory system a great workout.

3. Bend your arms. For a speed boost, bend your elbows to 90 degrees and let your hands swing in an arc from your waistband to chest height.

4. Push off with your toes. Land on your heel, roll your foot from heel to toe, then push off forcefully with your toes.

5. Take to the hills. For a more strenuous workout, forget about hand or ankle weights, which may lead to injury. Instead, walk some hills. Even a moderate grade can significantly boost your energy expenditure.

While walking is one of the safest exercises, injuries can happen. The main reasons people get hurt are doing too much too soon, and wearing improper shoes. Always start slowly and progress gradually, and choose a shoe designed for walking.

Avoid the common mistake of shopping for shoes at the end of the day when your foot is at its largest, recommends Rebecca Snow, biomechanist at the Rockport Co., a Massachusetts shoe manufacturer.You'll end up with shoes that are too small.

"Bring along the socks you'll wear," she says. "And be sure there's a thumb's-width distance between the end of your toe and the shoe." Pick one that fits snugly at the heel but allows "wiggle room" in the toes.

Also, take time to stretch. "Muscles that get stronger will also get tighter unless you stretch them out," says Snow, who advises spending three to five minutes stretching after a walk.

And don't expect to see results overnight. "Commit to six weeks," she says. "During that time just enjoy your walk, pay attention to nature and what's going on outside." After six weeks of regular walking, she says, you should notice changes inside, both in how you look and how you feel.