As a Personal Trainer, motivating people to exercise is a big deal. For some, running can be daunting, for an inexperienced weight lifter - difficult to do on your own and not everyone has the adventurous spirt to tackle ninja warrior! At the end of the day, the best type of cardiovascular exercise that you should be doing, is the type of cardio you enjoy most!
There are many reasons that as a Trainer, I'm a fan of walking events:
- Virtually anyone can do a walking event and there will always be a distance to cater for any fitness level.
- The sociability of walking. Sure, I might chat with a friend while on a run, but I will promptly stop talking when I hit that hill - Running isn't all that conducive to good conversation! Walking is a great, healthy way to catch up with friends. Instead of going to lunch with a friend next time, ask them to join you for a walk!
- The soft impact of walking compared to running can be easier on your joins, particularly if you have any injuries you need to manage.
- Walking is a great stepping stone to running. If you'd like to become a runner, but feel a bit too daunted by it at first, start with walking. Slowly progress to doing some intermittent jogging during your walk and slowly increase the duration of those jogs.
- Walking, as a low-moderate intensity exercise, is great for weight loss. At Vision, our recommendation for when cardio is used as [one of the] a tool for weight loss is to have approximately 75% of your total cardio time performed at a low-moderate intensity and only 25% performed at a high intensity.
There are literally dozens of short walking events (3-10km) on throughout the year in all the major cities. The events that are really picking up are the longer walking events, like Coast Trek and the Bloody Long Walk. For the serious long distance walkers, you may even want to tackle the Oxfam 100km walk.
To get involved in any of the walking events for 2018, take a look at our list of events on our St Ives homepage.
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
