We’ve already got you started walking for fitness with the advice we gave in the first edition of Get Fit Walking but you may still be unsure whether you’re doing things in the right way or you may even still be wondering if it really will be enough to get you fit.
Don’t worry if you’re unsure of yourself in the early days, it’s completely normal. You have the outline of what you need to do, the blueprint if you like but you don’t yet have the instruction manual to go with it – that build up of acquired knowledge and personal experience to lean on and guide your progress.
So let’s just quickly recap on what you need to do. You want to go out walking three to four times a week to start with, for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how you feel. You want to walk fast, so that means you’re moving along briskly, your heart is pumping more, your breathing is faster but you should be able to maintain that effort for the duration of the session.
That really is all you need to do when you’re starting out. You don’t want to get too technical too quickly and try to absorb too much information. You want to progress gradually, so you always feel in control of what you’re doing.
For the moment then, you know all you need to know about what to do, so let’s look at some other things that’ll help you get a good start.
Shoes
First up shoes – cushioned trainers that are aimed more at running than street fashion. Avoid sneakers or other flat soled sports shoes and also avoid fashion trainers – it’s better to focus on athletic performance than style. The ideal is something that’s designed for running or walking specifically.
Clothing
The beauty of walking is that you can integrate your fitness sessions into your day to day life, so you can just go walking for fitness in any clothing you like. In fact, we routinely go training in jeans & a light sweater or fleece but we always wear a sports T-shirt or base layer & this is the only thing really that you want to get or use initially, in terms of clothing for walking for fitness. The fabric layer that’s next to your skin always wants to be synthetic or made from Merino or some other natural fibre, so that it’s breathable and won’t hold sweat like cotton t-shirts will. As long as the fit’s comfortable and reasonably sporty, it’s fine.
Waterproof
Another essential is a waterproof jacket, so you can still go out if it’s raining but if your reaction to that statement is “forget it mate, I’m staying indoors” then that’s perhaps an aspect of your outlook to work on.
There’s not a lot about walking for fitness that’s particularly difficult, it’s one of the easiest ways you can get fit, so that leaves lots of wiggle room to allow for a little discomfort here and there and going out when it’s raining is one such situation!
The worst & hardest thing about going out walking when it’s raining is getting yourself out of the house in the first place. Once you’re outside, the weather becomes your full reality, so you just get on with it & then realise that it’s not as bad as all that. Now of course if it’s absolutely torrential rain or a hail storm then definitely do postpone your walk but if it’s just wet, put on your raincoat & get out. This very simple thing will also be helping you to build resilience & after a while, you won’t even think twice!
Tech
The last thing that’s really good to have from the start if you can is some kind of data recording device, so you can track all your walks & see the progress you’re making. If you don’t have a sports watch like a Fitbit, you can use an app like Strava on your phone. Strava has a free version that you can use to track all your walks so you have a record of your distance & pace & another great thing about Strava is that you can then join our Strava Club & get support from other members!
Schedule
You might be wondering why we say to just walk three times a week & not every day? Well, this is because when you’re more advanced, you’ll most likely be working harder and putting more effort into your main sessions because you’ll be more capable and that means that you’ll need rest days, so you don’t overdo it.
It’s best to get into the habit of doing this from the outset because then you don’t have to try and adapt to a different way of doing things later on, you just keep doing what you’re doing. This said, there’s nothing to stop you walking on the other days as well, in fact it’s good to maintain movement on rest days, you don’t want to just sit there & do nothing.
What you want to do though is make a distinction between days when you’re working & days when you’re essentially resting, so the three days in the week when you walk strongly & track this effort – these are your work days & the days in between are your rest days, so if you do walk on these days you should go easy & not do too much.