Walk to Lose Weight
WLR dietitian Juliette Kellow reviews the latest book to
help you lose weight by walking.
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Lose Weight Walking
REVIEW By
WLR Dietitian
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Here's a great new book written by fitness instructor Lucy Knight and it's a
great choice for anyone who wants to lose weight easily and inexpensively.
Walking for Weight Loss starts by explaining the health benefits of
walking, which don’t just include losing weight, but also improved
immunity, better joint and bone health, improved posture, less
back pain and even a reduced risk of conditions such as breast
cancer and stroke. You’ll also find out how walking is good
for the mind.
There is then a large section on how to achieve good
posture, much of which focuses on learning to engage your core
muscles – the muscles of your abdomen and lower back that
support the centre of your body as you walk. The author explains this is
important because good posture is the starting point for a
good walking technique.
Next, there is information on how to walk properly,
including advice on finding your correct stride length, how to
use your arms and how to breathe properly.
The book also includes information on different types of
walking.
The main focus is on power walking, which has similar
aerobic benefits to running and tones your bottom, thighs,
hips, abs, upper back and shoulders, but has less impact on
the joints.
There’s also a large section on the latest craze in the
world of walkers –
Nordic walking. This is effectively power
walking with weight-bearing, ski-like poles. Using the poles
exercises your arms as you use them to push off from the poles
to propel yourself forward and then push against them when you
plant them into the ground. This means your upper body gets a
harder workout than with other types of walking.
Plus it’s
estimated that you’ll burn 46 percent more calories, and
therefore lose more weight.
There are smaller sections on ‘Mall’ walking – basically
walking around your local shopping mall when the weather is
bad – hill walking, rambling, race walking, walking holidays,
charity walks and walking on the treadmill.
As you would expect, there’s advice on warming up and
cooling down, tips on dealing with common injuries such as
sprains, shin splints and cramp, information on the kit you
need, safety tips, advice on staying hydrated and a small
section on healthy eating.
However, when it comes to lose weight, the part of the book
that is most relevant is the section on developing your own
plan and how to find and achieve your target heart rate for
burning fat.
There are also three walking programmes to help you lose
weight – one for beginners, one for intermediates and one for
advanced walkers.
WLR says:
As the old Chinese proverb says, “Even the longest journey
begins with a single step” and it’s never been more accurate
than for when we want to lose weight, especially if we have a lot of
weight to lose.
The good news is, this book shows you how to literally take
that first step. Better still, it’s great to see a book that
makes exercise look easy and achievable.
Most of us know that
to lose weight and get fit, we need to do more exercise. But
for many of us the thought of joining a gym, going to an
aerobics class, heading out for a jog or taking the plunge at
our local swimming pool isn’t that appealing.
For good health, experts recommend that we should all
perform 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise – which
includes fast walking – on five or more days every week,
increasing this to 45-60 minutes every day if we want to
prevent obesity. This book is guaranteed to help you achieve
this – and lose weight, too.
More Information
The Weight Loss Resources ‘Walk
the Weight Off Challenge’ 2007 aims to get you motivated
to get out and walk and help you to keep track of how much you
are walking. Join other Members in the Members Forum on ‘Walk
the Weight Off Challenge’ message board. |
