Our guide to achieving a better Walk out one step at a time

Be realistic
If you haven’t been very active for a while you need to start out slow. Start with short distances and don’t push yourself too hard. Increase distances and effort gradually.

Pick an easy first walk
Make sure that no matter how far you get from your starting point, you are able to get back there. Walking around a local park or around the block should be fine.

Find a good place to walk
It’s important you feel good about your walking and nothing puts you in a better mood than walking in a nice, familiar or interesting environment. Ask yourself what you like to see and experience when you walk and pick your walking route accordingly – it could be a circuit of your local shopping centre, a riverside path – whatever grabs your fancy.

Distance Isn’t Everything
Remember it’s not the distance you cover – more important is the time that you spend walking, your technique and the briskness of your pace. Faster and farther walks will come over time.

Set a time
When you first start walking, decide how many minutes you will walk. Choose a length of time you know you can make. Do not worry about how short that period is. Just keep moving until you reach it. Increase the time each week. Each time you walk try and walk for a little longer than the time before. The buzz you feel from these little increases gives you a real sense of achievement and moving forward.

Work on speed and difficulty
As you progress and can comfortably walk 45 minutes a day, try to work on speed and difficulty. Target hills and inclines that will increase the difficulty of your walk – start to pick up the pace and ensure you move your arms with a swinging motion as well as your legs when you walk.

Use your target heart rate
If you are under your target heart rate (THR), you need to increase walking speed for it to be beneficial; if you are above your THR, decrease your walking speed. Weight loss and aerobic health will come through sustained effort, not through increased speed or distance.

Your target heart rate is positioned between your maximum and minimum heart rates – these denote a ‘zone’ in which you need to maintain your heart rate to maximize the benefits of exercise.

It is determined as follows:
1. Subtract your age from 220 - this gives you your maximum heart rate
2. Multiply the result by 60% - this tells you the minimum level of your heart rate zone
3. Multiply the result by 90% - this tells you the maximum level of your heart rate zone

For example: if you're 40 years old,
220 - 40 = 180.
180 multiplied by 60% = 108 beats per minute (bpm) is the minimum target heart rate
180 multiplied by 90% = 162 bpm

This means you need to keep your heart rate at at least 108 beats per minute for 30 minutes. If you are advanced or when you have increased your cardiovascular endurance you may try walking at the higher end of the range.  

While exercising you can determine your heart rate by taking your pulse for 10 seconds, and then multiplying this number by 6 to get your 1 minute heart rate. Another way to determine your heart rate is to invest in a heart rate monitor.  

Try interval training
Walk at an increased rate for one to two minutes, then slow back to your normal rate for two minutes. Every day or two add an interval until you reach your desired total time, including rest periods. As you become more physically fit, reduce your rest periods until they are down to a minute or less.