Walking question.

keep on walking. Go a bit further and/ or a bit faster when you feel you can. I lost the first 36 odd lbs of my weight just walking, it si that effective as exercise!

(One day, you may want to run too; go with it, but be warned it is addictive :bigsmile: ).

Hi there! I think you need to start building up your endurance. Typically, the average person walks a couple of miles to get excercise and that takes about half an hour. Building up endurance takes a bit longer. Ideally, start off an endurance walk with stretching your legs and arms before you start and then walk for 5-10 minutes and stretch again. From there, try to walk 5 miles and make a note of how long this takes you. Repeat this until you feel like your body is used to that distance and then add a mile on and make notes of how long that takes you... then another mile... and continue until you can walk 10 miles without stopping to have a break. It may take a while, but you will be building up your endurance and fitness this way.
Maybe you can also do a bit of power walking too? You could do one endurance walk a week, one fairly relaxed walk a week and one more speedy walk per week. On the more speedy one you could walk normally for one minute and then power walk for one minute and continue that for about half an hour. Then when that gets easy you can change it to one minute normal walking and 2 minutes power walking... and then change it to 3 minutes power walking.... and so on!
I hope this helps!

I would follow the advice of trying to build into endurance walks and adding distance rather than adding weight. Putting weight on or walking with handweights can affect your body mechanics and put things out of whack. Find some hills and try to build your endurance that way - and also try to increase your speed. Running apps like Runkeeper log distance and average pace for walking just like they do for running. I love walking and I think it's really great exercise. One thing I try to do is add in a long walk (5.5 miles) on the weekends when I have a little more time - it's on a beautiful trail and really lifts my spirits. You may want to look for something similar near you.

Not sure if you use a treadmill or not. But I do the hill program it is a combination of hills and flat surfaces. I increase my level each week and do intervals on it ranging from 3.0-3.4mph. I sweat like a pig in just 20 mins. Before I would walk for miles outside and not sweat at all. Just find what works best for you whether it is increase your speed or add hills or walk longer. Best of luck.

Something I've found - find a route that you enjoy walking. My weekend route is alongside the Mississippi river and it's really pretty, but my daily route is around the fancy houses near me. I think enjoying the view motivates you to keep walking. (But don't be afraid to explore somewhere new as well.)

Maybe include some of the walking videos in your week. (I'm partial to Leslie Sansone.) Most of them are aerobic/toning. Some use weights, some resistance bands, etc. Some include some interval jogging.

(Her "walking" includes the normal walk/march in place, side steps, knee lifts, kicks, and kick-backs, so you aren't just walking in place the entire time.)

...if you're in Scotland, the Edinburgh Moonwalk might be a thought for a future challenge; there's a Half Moon too.

I got started walking because I had a place on the London Moonwalk, an amazing experience. The founder Nina Barough has written a really good book called 'Walking for Fitness' which is brilliant for technique, as well as some suitable strengthening exercises and good stretches too.

have a look into Nordic walking - works a lot more of the body than just the legs.

keep on walking. Go a bit further and/ or a bit faster when you feel you can. I lost the first 36 odd lbs of my weight just walking, it si that effective as exercise!

(One day, you may want to run too; go with it, but be warned it is addictive :bigsmile: ).

100% This ^^^

As daft as this sounds, go for a walk holding two full water bottles. Really helps with the swinging of arm movements, and also gives a bit of resistance training on the arms.

Looking at your 3 pictures on your "loss chart"...I'd say what you're doing is certainly working. So keep it up! I agree with the advice to continue to up your distance and speed a little at a time. Or do spurts of faster walking then go back to normal as you adjust. I'm glad someone advised against adding a backpack of textbooks...I'd be afraid of injury, too. I've added short bits of light jogging to my walks lately and never thought I'd be doing that! So keep walking as it's a great exercise!