The Joy of Exercise

It’s simple, inexpensive, can be done anytime, anywhere, and it can be done alone or with somebody. No waiting for a tee time, no trying to get a tennis court, no looking for a hoop to use for your round ball practice, and no trouble with not getting the team together to practice. Walking is not a team sport. Hooray!

How’s your heart? Over the past 30 years, heart attacks have tapered off a little. This is due to many factors, including fewer smokers and more exercise.

No test have been done on a scientific basis to prove that aerobic walking can reduce your chances of having a heart attack, but most professionals in the health field, say the evidence is undeniable. Aerobic walking will not only help you trim the fat off that belly of yours, but at the same time will be a big factor in helping your heart to gain in strength and in function.

Not a bad partnership, I’d say.

One small way you can test this. It’s called your resting heart rate. Right now, before you dig into this program, take time out and record your resting heart rate.

Not hard. Oh, the best place to take your pulse is on the carotid artery in your neck. It’s larger, stronger has more blood pumping through it than your wrist, and is easier to find and maintain.

So, sit down in your favorite chair and do nothing for five minutes. TV is approved, but no humor show that will have you breaking up every 20 seconds. At the end of the five minutes take your pulse.

The easiest way to do this is to use a stop watch or sweep second hand or stop watch feature on a sport digital watch. Get your forefinger on your carotid and wait for a steady pulse. You should be able to feel it easily. Don’t press so hard you cut off the flow. Pick up the count and stay with the pulsations for ten, then look at your watch. Check the timer at an even ten second point, 20, 30, etc. Count each heart beat for 15 seconds. Say you get 20 beats. Now multiply that 20 by four, to get the number of beats per minute. You have an 80.

Most adults have a resting heart rate from 50 to 90. Generally the lower your resting heart rate, the better your physical condition.

Shoes

A lot is made in some quarters about using “walking” shoes in your aerobic walking. True walking shoes are hard to find, terribly expensive and not all that much different from running shoes.

True walking shoes often are made of leather rather than nylon and tend to trap your foot sweat. Running shoes have good heels and soles that will absorb the shock of hard landings on the average runner.

This makes them work just fine for walking. Your impact won’t be as hard on walking, and the running models offer better absorption of the forces so they aren’t transferred to your ankle and knee joints.

The fact that most running shoes offer much better ventilation is another plus for the walker.

Sweat

All feet sweat. When you walk they sweat more and even though the running shoes have ventilation panels, you still need good socks to absorb most of that moisture. Cotton socks are the most absorbent and will do a good job. Whether you wear the low socks or higher ones is up to you.

Oh, don’t plan on walking in the same pair of shoes every day. You should alternate your shoes. Just the way they made you do in the army with your combat boots, remember? Same idea. Your shoes will have a chance to dry out completely, and your feet will get the benefit of a different pair of shoes. They might look identical, but no two shoes are exactly alike. The foot print will be different inside the shoe due to differences in construction and materials. Change here every other day is good.

Foot care

Most people, experts figure about 90 percent of the men, women and children in our land, have feet good enough to walk for an hour or two a day with no problems.

The more you walk, the more you’ll realize that it pays to take care of your feet. With good cotton socks, some walkers like to wear two pair of socks, a thicker pair and a thinner one, your feet shouldn’t get blisters.

If you get blisters, you’re doing something wrong. Maybe you’re pushing off too hard, or your shoes don’t fit right or your socks are bunching up and causing too much pressure. Take care of your feet. You’re going to need them for a long time.

You might want to dust some antifungal powder into your socks before your walk. Can’t hurt. If you do get a blister, break it with a sterilized needle as soon as you get home.

It’s always a good idea to wash your feet after a workout on any kind of aerobic foot work, dancing, stair climber, walking, running, Nordic Track, or treadmill, even an exercise bike.

Try the old shock treatment. Use a bucket and fill it with cold water. Then run hot water in your bath tub. Lower the bucket of cold water into the tub and soak your feet in the cold water first for a minute, then plunge your feet into the hot water. This alternately restricts and expands the blood flow in your feet.

Do this six times, then dry off your feet. They’ll feel delightful. This treatment helps to tone your tissues, muscles and ligaments. Besides, it feels just great.

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Category: Exercise, Weight Loss, Workout

Tags: aerobic, aerobic walking, children, feet, foot, health, heart, heart rate, humor, pair, pair of shoes, press, rate, resting, resting heart, resting heart rate, running, running shoes, shoes, socks, sweat, time, together, true walking shoes, tv, walking, water, women