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You are here: Home / Archives for walking

walking

Walking vs Running: Which is Better?

Zoey · November 7, 2017 · Leave a Comment

I’m a fan of both walking and running, but when it comes to this question, it actually leads to another question: What is your goal?

If you look at any person at the peak of their sport, they are as fit as they can be for that sport, but they aren’t really healthy. What they do isn’t optimal for health, and they couldn’t sustain it year round as a lifestyle.

So, the first question you need to ask yourself is do you want to be healthy? And what would you like to be fit for? Because your answer to walking vs running is going to change a lot depending on what your goals are.

For lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and bone disease, walking is just as effective as running. The main thing is that it be brisk walking. And, if you really want to maximise the benefits of walking you could consider hiking or walking with a weight vest.

Running will help you do that and will tend to develop capillaries, increase myoglobin, increase glycogen storage and build mitochondria.

What does that mean in English? Capillaries deliver nutrients to muscles which is why they are important. Increased myoglobin allows your body to shuttle more oxygen off to your mitochondria when you are under aerobic stress and mitochondria are actually responsible for energy production. They are the aerobic powerhouse. They break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats and convert it into usable energy.

And although a lot of those things have benefits that are specific to fitness, rather than health, there is some crossover. Increasing mitochondria is great for your fitness, but it’s also great for your metabolism which carries over into general health and it’s also key to endurance and being fatigue resistant. Capillaries also don’t contract, so you need to move for them to do their job as well.

Those adaptations won’t all happen walking, but you don’t have to run to get those benefits either. A HIIT program or resistance/strength training program will get you the same benefits.

The best question to ask is what is the type of movement that is going to bring me joy? What am I going to want to wake up in the morning to do?

Because the best type of exercise or training, is the type you enjoy. That might be walking or running or weight lifting or yoga or CrossFit or F45 or dance or hiking or bootcamp. Sometimes creating a habit is hard enough, it is just so much easier to build it around something that you love.

Everyone Walks

Zoey · February 13, 2017 · Leave a Comment

“How do you take photos when you are running?” is a common enough question that I get asked. Or after a long run, “do you really run the whole way?” and the answer is that I walk. Or I take pictures at the end. Sometimes I walk on a long run. Sometimes I walk on a fast run if I’ve gone out a bit too hard. In a race, I walk through water stations – especially in marathons. Sometimes there is a strategic element to walking, and sometimes it’s just because I feel like it.

So when you see someone’s long run on Strava, or their running pictures on Facebook you can be pretty confident that it’s a great run, but it’s not all running. That’s a good thing. Walking will preserve your energy, so you don’t hit a wall. Walking will keep your heart rate in the aerobic zone. Walking even uses different muscles so it increases your endurance significantly.

I think it’s time walking stopped being confused with some kind of failure or cheating or idea that it ‘doesn’t count’. Sometimes walking is maximum effort, sometimes it is the required effort but mostly it’s a tool in your running arsenal that you should be taking advantage of.

Using walking will differ from person to person. I’ve had periods of time where I’ve consistently used walk/run intervals (and if you are interested there is zero difference in terms of pace if I run the whole time or run 3 minutes / walk 1 minute). Some people find those intervals disruptive – they find it hard to get into a rhythm – so they might not use set intervals but might choose to hike up some hills rather than running them. For other people having set walk/run intervals is really helpful because it stops you from that internal conversation of ‘should I keep going or should I walk’ and stopping that internal conversation means a consistent amount of running and it’s less likely to turn into all walking.

I know that when I started, I kind of felt like running was a war against walking because in the beginning all you can think of is running continuously just to prove that you can. But once you get there, you realise it’s not only not necessary, it’s also not always ideal. The reason why they work so well is because you are giving yourself a break before you get tired, because walking after you are tried – it’s already kind of too late. It also allows you to maintain better form because your core isn’t collapsing as you fatigue.

So maybe it’s time to look at walking a bit differently. Not everyone uses walking in the same way. But it might be worth figuring out how walking could take your running to the next level.

Do what moves you most.

OperationMove · February 12, 2014 · 13 Comments

move because you love to

 

For as long as I have known her, which is a pretty long time now, my best friend has played netball.

For about the same amount of time I have considered her completely insane. You’d think, with my relatively newfound love of fitness, that I would have embraced her netball playing ways. But I haven’t, and I still think she’s a little unhinged to enjoy copping elbows in the ribs and being pushed around by scary women wearing initials that I’m pretty sure stand for ‘Gut Shover’ and ‘Woman Attacker’. But hey, that’s why she plays it and I don’t.

And in fairness, I’ve spent an awful lot of my life thinking that all those runners were pretty loopy too. I’d see them sweating and panting and wonder what on earth could drive a person to do such a thing.

Turns out, feeling COMPLETELY BLOODY AWESOME is a pretty good motivator, and when I’m in the car and see people running now I just want to wind down my window and hit them with some Eye of the Tiger and a big thumbs up. I’ve yet to actually do that, and my husband often tells me to stop staring at the runners, but one day. One day.

But here’s the thing. My bestie has taken up running in the past six months and I keep waiting for her to love it like I do. And she just doesn’t. She likes how she feels after a run, but the actual running isn’t her favourite. Because we aren’t the same person.

Huh.

I see people raving about their personal trainers, and how much they love bootcamp. I think to myself if I want people to yell at me to do stuff I can just get out of bed in the morning. My kids totally have that covered. But some people thrive on it and that is their thing. If it gets you moving and loving it, then that is awesome!

Other people are mad keen cyclists. I have been trying to embrace the bike, but you know my bum still says no. It is a fun thing to do now and again with the kids, but I’m never gonna be the one out there punching the air because I rode up a mountain. Because I am never going to ride up a mountain. I’ll leave that to people who don’t mind feeling like their legs might fall off.

I will however run. And when I can’t run I will walk, because that makes me feel really great and happy too.

The biggest secret to going from a ‘fitness kick’ to a lifestyle change is liking it. It is that simple.

Some days I just cannot be bothered, but because I know that even the junkiest run will leave me feeling like a million bucks I will do it anyway. If I had to get up and play netball I might never get out of bed again. Running is my thing. It makes me feel strong and grounded and amazing.

Maybe you haven’t found your thing yet?

Try something new.

Go for a walk. And tell us every time you head out the door, because the best props come from people who get it. Trust me on this.

Learn to run. We all started with the first step, and maybe you’ll love it and maybe you won’t, but you’ll have given it a go.

Check out Crossfit, or a local gym, or book a session with a personal trainer. Or call my house at 8.15am any given morning and I’ll put one of my kids on the phone to yell at you. Mates rates.

Just give it a go. Nothing to lose and everything to gain.

What moves you?

 

 

Dorothy’s Story; Walking Out Of Depression

OperationMove · January 29, 2014 · 9 Comments

 

IMG_5706

Sometimes I have to remind myself that just getting out the door for a walk is a huge accomplishment.

I am great at beating myself up for not moving enough, for not eating healthy enough, for just not being enough.

So I have to remind myself.

I have been carrying an extra 20 kilos for the last 15 years, which is exactly how long I’ve been on anti-depressants. I suspect that nothing short of a major lifestyle change will enable me to shift it and going off my meds is not yet an option.

So I have to remind myself that a) I have depression and b) I am on medication. When my mood is low, getting out the door and moving really is an achievement.

I will never be a runner, nor do I want to be one. I am, however, a walker. It’s been my favourite form of exercise for like, ever. As a child, I was allowed to roam the neighbourhood pretty freely and walked huge distances just about every day, especially on holidays.

I have lovely memories of summer holidays in the Polish countryside where I rambled through wheat fields, cow pastures and the local cemetery. There were favourite houses I checked on on my walks and the best spots to pick wild flowers.

I walked to and from school, went bushwalking on holidays and explored several European cities on foot.

When my babies were little I regularly walked with the pram for both exploratory and exercise purposes and when they grew I walked alongside them on their bikes. The older they became though, the less willing they were to get out for a longer walk. And, frankly, walking with small children is more of an exploration than actual exercise.

My moving became haphazard over the years, especially since my youngest started school. I can’t blame lack of time, it was pure laziness. Walking along the same streets day in day out became really boring for someone who’s always equated walking with exploring.

Looking for motivation and accountability, I joined Operation Move and it’s been life changing.

When everyone in the group is moving and discussing their moving, it is hard to keep sitting on the couch or in front of the computer. There have been many occasions when just thinking about the group has got my butt out the door and walking.

Whenever I feel bad that I’ve only walked once in a week, rather than my goal of three, someone in the group will remind me that it’s one time more than somebody who hasn’t moved at all.

OperationMOVE has shifted my view of walking from exploration to serious exercise and so now I take it seriously. I still walk the same streets, but I concentrate on what I’m doing, rather than on my surroundings. I focus on the work my body is doing and repeat affirmations as I go. Sometimes I look up to take in my environment and am grateful for making the move out of Melbourne.

Taking walking seriously, I even bought workout singlets and sports bras and am no longer ashamed of my body as I walk. Because I AM moving.

I doubt that my goal of walking 3 times a week will make much of a difference to my weight, but it is definitely making me fitter and I have lost a few kilos, as I also adjusted what I eat.

My walking pace has improved heaps since joining Operation Move and taking walking seriously helps me feel better about myself. My mood is better when I walk regularly and I am slowly beginning to organise my days around my walks. Sometimes we do family walks, but I prefer to walk alone.

Walking is one of my strategies for managing depression and anxiety. I’ve already reduced one of my medications and will try to reduce the other soon.

Being medication free and sane are my ultimate goals. Losing all that weight would be a bonus. I wonder if I can get there.

 

Dorothy fitspo

 

Dorothy has been blogging for over five years, most recently at Dorothy K. She blogs to keep herself sane, more or less, writing about resilience, mental health and solo parenting.

A sole parent of two boys, Dorothy is also a freelance copywriter, thinker and problem solver. Since beginning blogging she has launched two businesses and left Melbourne to live in Ballarat.

 

#walk400 – creating habits

OperationMove · January 18, 2014 · 12 Comments

motivation habit quote

 

 

We’re at that stage of the month where many of our #walk400 participants will start to do one of two things;

1) They will realise that walking more is making them feel really good, and find ways to prioritise and keep going with it

2) They will quietly slip away from the group, and stop making the time for themselves.

 

Wisdom is that it takes three weeks to break a habit. As a 20 year smoker who quite last September I can tell you that isn’t always true, but let’s go with the idea that the converse IS true: that it takes three weeks to create a habit.

We’ve been walking for around three weeks now. Most of you who are new to moving will be at the crossroads where YOU decide the value of it within your life. You might be starting to see and feel the physical benefits (which increase greatly the longer you go on) and maybe you are reaping some emotional rewards as well.

But it is still easy to put yourself back at the bottom of the list. I know, I’ve spent a long time doing that too.

Here’s the thing that gets me out the door every morning right now, even when it is crazy hot… I am worth it.

That half hour of repetitive motion can be enough to set my mood for the entire day. I may walk out the door cranky at everyone but I’ve never walked back in feeling that way.

My family deserve a wife and Mum who is calm and happy and feels good about herself.

Your family does too.

 

Do you feel like you are embracing the moving habit? If you are finding it tricky, pop into the forums and yell out… we’ve all been there too and want to support your moving journey!

To help support this new fabulous habit of yours, we will be sharing two new challenges for February. Be sure to check in next weekend to find out more about those!

And congratulations Amy (Mrs Smyth) you’ve won our She Science gift voucher this week! Thanks for sharing such fabulous #walk400 photos and joining in the forums with us!

 

With just over a week to go, will you reach your 400 minutes?

 

 

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