The Senior Walking Fitness Blog

Dr. Ramo talks about the healthy benefits of the Mediterranean lifestyle.

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After you have been fitness walking for a while try a quick burst of speed. Not too much, just twenty or thirty yards every mile or so. If you are a little out of breath that’s fine, you are exercising your heart. You have now reached the Intermediate stage and should be able to walk continuously for 30 minutes. But please don’t do this when you start your fitness walking program.. As I said, start slowly and take your time.

You should now be losing fat with your Mediterranean diet and building muscle with your walking. But if you start to feel tired you will lose motivation, so if this happens go back a stage and walk shorter distances for a while. It is just your body telling you that you are going too far too fast.

There’s plenty of time, just do some fitness walking every day and extend your distances whenever you want to.

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I just came across an excellent article by Maggie Humphreys and Les Snowdon which outlines yet another benefit of a Walking Fitness programme. Their book Walk Slim is also worth a look.

‘PUT YOUR HEART INTO WALKING

There is now overwhelming evidence which shows that exercising moderately will cut your chances of having a heart attack by up to half. More than 40 scientific studies have now shown that moderate physical activity like brisk walking develops cardiovascular health and protects against heart disease.

protects the heart by increasing its size and strength so it can pump more blood with fewer beats.

increases the size and number of blood vessels for better and more efficient circulation.

increases the amount of oxygen delivered to all tissues and cells.

increases the efficiency of exercising muscles and blood circulation so that muscles and blood can process oxygen more easily.

increases HDL (good) cholesterol which protects heart and blood vessels from fatty deposits.

increases the ability to cope with stress which means you will be less prone to heart disease.

decreases triglycerides (sugar fats) so they are not deposited on lining of arteries.

decreases blood pressure by improving elasticity of blood vessels - giving less resistance to the flow of blood and increasing oxygen flow to tissues and cells.

The famous Paffenberger study at Stanford University in the USA found that people who were sedentary had a 30-40% greater risk of dying from coronary heart disease than those who exercised moderately. Research by the British exercise physiologist, Dr Adrianne Hardmann, of Loughborough University, found that fat levels in the blood after a fatty meal were lower in people who had taken a brisk walk the day before. It seems that brisk walking helps clear dangerous fats from the blood and cuts the risk of clogged arteries.

Exercise is not a cure-all to prevent heart disease - we are all subject to various risk factors, and diet and good nutrition also play an important part. But if you want to keep fit and healthy and keep your heart in shape, then you must take exercise to heart.

Find out more about how to put your heart into walking by buying Walk Slim today.’ 

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Hundreds of seniors participated in a fitness walk in Roosevelt Park in Edison, September 24th, 2008. (Video by Mitsu Yasukawa)

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There you are taking your walking exercise in the woods or along the coast. You see a deer or a strange bird or maybe even a pod of dolphins in the bay. ’I wish I had binoculars,’ you moan.

Well, get some for next time. But you have to take some decisions first.

There are two variables to consider when choosing a binocular, magnification and field of view. An 8×42 binocular magnifies 8 times and has a 42mm object lens (not the one you look through, the one at the other end, nearest the object you are looking at). The bigger the object lens the more light gets into the binocular and, generally, the wider field of view you will have.

Still with me? Keep going. High power with a small object lens is useless, it gives a dull narrow image. So go for reasonable power with a good size of object lens. Back to our original 8×42. This will be a good general purpose binocular. Don’t buy small pocket binoculars because you think you won’t use then very much. When you do use them you’ll never find your bird, or your deer, because the field of view will be impossibly small. There is nothing worse than fluffing about with a bad pair of binoculars while your quarry vanishes into the nearest bush.

So, what to buy? There are plenty of good binoculars about. I use Bushnell 8×42 H20 Roof Binoculars. I have had my present pair for three years and found them sturdy and excellent in every way. They are not the bottom of the range, so if you can’t afford them get something cheaper, but do make them 8×42.

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So here you are slim, fit and amazed by the results of your Senior Walking Fitness Programme. You have enjoyed your Mediterranean diet and don’t even miss the high calorie junk food you once ate. You are basking in the knowledge that at long last your diet is good for your heart. Then out of the blue, or very nearly so, along comes Christmas. What to do? How to maintain your fitness and your new found healthy lifestyle?

I will tell you exactly what to do. FORGET IT. Take a break. Then start over again in the New Year. On 1 January (or if you are Scottish 3 January) off you go, walking into the next year with a smile on your face. You will have put on a few pounds, but no matter, you will soon lose them.

You are keeping fit and happy, not fit and miserable, so enjoy Christmas along with everybody else. That’s what I’m going to do.

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We know by now that diet and exercise work. Your good old Mediterranean Diet is helping you lose pounds and your Fitness Walking programme is building muscle fast. Check in the mirror and rejoice.

Are you out there looking at nature? Autumn is the best time to do it. Deer are rutting, birds are migrating. It is the turning of the year and about as exciting as nature gets. Here in the UK geese are arriving from the arctic. Last weekend I saw 2000 in flight on the wild North Sea coast. A National Geographic Magazine moment if ever there was one. A sight like that should make you forget the television, pizza and warm chair of former days.

What are you doing reading this? Head for the hills or coast and be amazed.

How to start your Senior Walking Fitness programme.

1. Find a friend to walk with you. A friend will motivate you, it won’t be too hot/cold/wet. You won’t be too tired. You may not even notice how far you’ve walked together.

2. Walk every day. You must have a regular schedule and a pedometer is a good idea to check your distance.

3. Start slowly. A walk round the block is a good start. After a few days you will be thoroughly bored and want to go further. Make twenty minutes walking your first milestone - it will probably be about a mile anyway. Nothing to it, just ten minutes there and ten minutes back. But you did it so CELEBRATE. But, please, not with a pizza. Now you are on your way to lifetime fitness with nothing like as much effort as you’d expected.

4. Most important of all. KEEP IT UP. Whatever the weather, just do it. You wouldn’t want to let you friend down, would you?

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