What It Takes to Burn Those Calories

By Sheethal

Do you remember your first step? What a fuss everyone made! And then you continued to walk right on through childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood, but somewhere along the way, like most adults, you probably stopped walking so much. Part of the reason may be the hectic, stressful life that all of us lead, with not a moment to spare for recreation or formal exercise. The environment plays a part too; inactivity has been engineered into our lives, thanks to increased automation right from escalators to remote controls and many more.

Here’s one way to feel great, have more energy and improve your overall health, take a Walk!! Walking is one of the best forms of exercise and you can do it almost anywhere, anytime, and for free. The generally recognized health benefits of walking regularly are far-reaching. These include reduced risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, reduced stress, weight control, muscle tone, and cardio fitness. Walking for exercise does not need to be strenuous to produce results. Minimal walking has been reported to produce measurable benefits, even among those who are least active.

Finding the best time to walk can be mind boggling, but only you can be your best judge. So, find a time that will fit best into your schedule as it tends to vary with each person. Experts agree, it’s not the time of day that matters as much as finding the time you can set aside consistently for your workouts. A little experimentation with your own schedule and rhythms should put you on the right track.

Once you’re on track, burning calories becomes an important part of walking. You start burning calories after walking for a period of 20 minutes at a normal pace. You could start with a good 10 minutes and work your way up to 15 and 20 and so forth. One way to get started could be just by adding short walks into your day where ever possible. For e.g. take the stairs instead of riding the elevator or escalator, take a walk after dinner, or when out and about choose the farthest spot in the parking lot. Studies show that, an individual weighing between 150 to 250 pounds can easily burn between 100 to 166 calories per mile.

Here are some tips for effective walking:
• Walk heel to toe and not flatfooted to increase speed.
• Contact the ground with your heel.
• Push off with your toes.
• Keep your torso upright as leaning forward or back will slow you down.
• Keep your elbows at 90 degrees and your hands relaxed.
• Swing your arms forward and back and keep them close to your body. Your hands should not cross the midline of your body to maintain efficiency. Eventually, speed up your arm swing to increase your speed and your legs will follow!
• Keep your shoulders and neck relaxed. Head should be upright, eyes looking forward.

Finally, what to wear while walking? I would rate a good pair of running shoes (preferably with heavy rubber or crepe rubber soles) to do the trick. It is very important to keep in mind that our feet are under pressure when walking. A little pampering for our feet won’t do any harm. Along with those, loose, comfortable clothing must be worn for better air circulation as one tends to sweat a lot while walking.

So put on your track shoes and get moving to burn those calories! As walking can only do you good if you do it!!