Walk Your Way to Health

The simplest form of cardio and also what helps people break through fat loss plateaus is WALKING!

Walking is all together easy on the joints, it's low impact, accessible to most, and enjoyable. It's been researched that even HIIT and running workouts don't create superior progress towards fat loss (Steele et al., 2021). However even if fat loss isn't your main goal right now, walking can reduce mortality risk, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and and improve long-term health. (Saint-Maurice, 2020).

The long term walking goal would be to get you between 8-12K steps a day, and that is hard, but big goals make big changes. Let's keep that big goal in mind as you stop and look at where are you now. Are you around 2-3K steps a day? Start with increasing your daily step count by 1000 this week. Once you maintain that for 2 weeks, add another 1000 steps to you daily goal.

Here's some tips to make that happen:

• Choose a farther parking spot

• Do a 10 minute incline walk before or after your workout / personal training session

• Prepare for all weathers - rain coat, boots, warm sweater, water bottle, hat....

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible 

• Listen to podcasts while walking

• Take the dog out for a walk

• Take the long way around

• Walk and talk whenever possible during phone calls

• Try an under desk treadmill

One of the biggest ways to help you achieve change is to get accountability. Get to actually know how many steps you're taking, your phone does that for free. If you don't get honest about what you're doing, you can't improve. Accountability with others is also great. Document your journey on social media, tell a few friends and start a group chat to stay accountable, post the goal on your fridge and mark when you hit your goal.

Grab a habit tracker or steadfast calendar to help with this!

Here's the January Cardio Distance Challenge, screenshot and fill in on your instagram story to follow along with me this month. Choose the time interval (ex: 15 minutes) and the activity (walking, running, biking...). Fill in the distances each week for your chosen form of cardio and see how you improve.

Follow along on instagram for daily motivation & tips!

Oakland personal trainer for women who want to build strength and confidence from the inside out.