Jogging provides an excellent form of exercise. It improves your overall physical condition, tones and shapes muscles and strengthens your cardiovascular system and is a low cost activity which can be entered into at any time of the day or week. There are also benefits to your mental well being if you are taking part in physical activities, resulting in reduced stress, anxiety and lowering levels of depression. On the whole, the benefits of jogging for some people are unquestionable.  Jogging offers the opportunity of joining a running club, meeting new friends and setting and achieving new goals.

Sometimes I even convince myself that nothing could be better for me than jogging around my local park but I know it wouldn’t be long before I thought about the option of walking. This is a pastime that is less strenuous for the body, the risk of knee and ankle damage is greatly reduced by taking part things a little slower and which can be enjoyed by people with many different fitness levels.

I would suggest the perfect start to any fitness regime begins with walking for 30 minutes every day.  There are many opportunities to join clubs and walk in places which are off the beaten track which brings the communal of benefit of sharing an experience. Walking allows time to take in the environment, to appreciate the scenery and the flora and fauna. There are also very few dress requirements when walking although comfortable footwear is essential.

Planning a good walk can come with a real sense of adventure and can be tailored to the interests of the individual. A route can be planned alongside a canal side, through the countryside or even walking towards an idyllic country pub.  Walking can also be a matter of choice, people can choose to walk rather than drive. The benefits here are duel – helping to reduce carbon admissions while improving one’s own health.
I would consider one last point when talking about why walking is better for you than running and that is, no one ever looked silly while walking.

Walking for fitness is as easy and convenient as putting one foot in front of the other. Almost anyone can do it, it helps shift that stubborn fat, increases your overall level of fitness and can create the same ‘high’ as jogging can (without the unnecessary stress on joints – or the boredom).  2500 years ago, Hippocrates stated that walking was the best medicine and as a form of exercise it is now endorsed by most of the world’s leading experts in obesity. Of course, lets not forget that walking is also one of the most cost effective forms of exercise since all you really need to fork out for is a good pair of trainers or walking shoes. Yay!

So while we are bigging up walking, here are a few more incentives for you to get those shoes on and get out there:

• Walking at a good pace for an hour will burn off about 260 calories
• The WHO recommends walking as a fantastic way to “lose weight, lower cholesterol, slow down aging, increase muscle and bone strength, flexibility and balance and increase stamina.”
• Done regularly, walking will slim down the thighs, calves, bum and tummy area.
• Because walking is a weight-bearing exercise it’s super good for counteracting the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. Bones are very much like muscles in the way that they grow stronger and a consistent walking routine will aid bone, muscle and tissue growth and renewal.
• Walking every day for 6 months can reduce deep abdominal fat – this is the nasty fat that settles around your internal organs and can significantly add to the risk of cancer and heart disease.
• It makes you feel great!

Happy New Year everyone!

Still not feeling 100% so won’t be out walking for at least another week (although I’m still steadily losing weight with Paul McKenna) but am busy making plans for walking in 2010.  For Christmas, I bought myself and my husband a joint membership of the Ramblers so looking forward to going on at least one big walk a month with a group of others – particularly in the Lakes and the Peak District. I’m also going to sign up for the Manchester Midnight Walk in July 2010 which is not only a great cause to support but also looks like a huge amount of fun.

It’s a 10K walk around Manchester at midnight on a (hopefully) warm summers night and I think it will be a fantastic thing to do. Other walks planned for 2010 include:

The Yorkshire 3 Peaks

Cat Bells

Pendle Hill

Blackshaw Head

Now I just need to get fit and healthy again……:-S

I’ve been meaning to write about Stephen Fry’s weightloss for ages, especially as he seems just as enthusiastic about keeping up the exercise that led to his shedding at least 6 stone. For those of you not familiar with Mr Fry (can there be anyone?) he’s a British actor, writer, bon viveur and all round institution. He’s been on our screens and in our lives for as long as I can remember and his height and size have only added to his larger than life character. I must admit that it never occured to me to me that he was significantly overweight until it was revealed just how much he’d lost by walking and modifying his diet but this picture really does show how great he looks now.

Even though I know that walking is brilliant for weight loss it’s great to see someone as well liked as Stephen Fry also sing its praises and demonstrate how it has worked for him. Granted, he walks pretty huge distances every day (5 – 10 miles) but a 20 minute walk to the shops and back is never going to be enough to shift such a lot of weight. I am also happy to hear that he uses his walking time to catch up on podcasts too – something I love doing. It will be interesting to see the changes in him over the next year or so as he continues on his walking path and how he encourages others to take up exercise too. I hear there may be a book in the pipeline about his walking and weight loss which sounds a great idea. I wish him every luck in the future and hope he keeps motivating others to follow his lead.

Picture courtesy of  The Mail

I apologise for the negative tone of the post (it’ll get balanced out by the next one I promise) but no matter how hard I try, there are some things I will ALWAYS hate about walking…..

The very early morning walk

I love my sleep, I really do and as a natural night owl I’ll often work through to 2 or 3 in the morning. Unfortunately, if I’m busy the next day that means an early morning walk and I will never, ever get used to these as long as  live. Don’t get me wrong, once I’m out the door I’m fine but the 15 mins before doing that are absolute torture. I now make sure that I have all my walking ‘kit’ ready in the bedroom so I don’t have to find time scrabbling around for my trainers or iPod at 6am which does make thing a little easier. The main thing is I just make myself do it – no excuses anymore. It works but I don’t like it.

The evening walk

If I miss my morning walk then I need to fit it in during the day and as I prefer walking in the dark (in the winter at least) then the ideal time is roughly at 6pm. Again, I have no problem once I’m out the door but 6pm usually comes right about the time I either pick up my husband from the station/start making supper/am in the middle of a complicated project/am just home from a long day at work myself. It’s usually freezing outside, the house is cozy, the cat is on my lap and and I just want to flop down on the settee in front of a rubbish programme.  Again, I give myself absolutely no choice but boy do I bitch for the first 20 minutes.

Rain - Don’t like it

Cyclists on the path – especially when they are behind me and I have my headphones in

The way my lower back aches if I walk over an hour and a half

Trying to balance drinking enough without wanting to pee every 10 minutes

Wanting to pee every 10 minutes

Dogs – I love ‘em but for God’s sake owners, don’t let them out and about on their own especially when they bark their bloody heads off at every little thing and look like they are about to eat your leg off.

Buses that don’t turn up

I like having somewhere to work to, it gives the walk a point and gives me a sense of purpose. I try and time my walks so that I’m at the bus stop after about 7.5 miles. If however, the bus fails to turn up, I have to walk 3 miles to the next town to get a different bus or walk 3.5 miles back to my town to get the local bus home. OK, so it’s extra mileage which is a good thing but it does my temper no good at all.

Just how long it takes to walk 7.5 miles

Oh, how I love the winter! I really love everything about it from the dark mornings and early nights to filling up on wonderful stews and bangers and mash. Walking in the spring and summer is OK I guess but nothing, NOTHING fills me with such joy as getting out on the hills on a freezing cold and misty day knowing I have a big flask of cocoa and a weighty flapjack to keep me going until the light starts to fade. I’ll be posting a lot more now my favourite seasons are here just so I get to use the words ‘snow’, ‘frost’ and ‘bitterly cold’ as often as I can