20-40 minute walk at a comfortable pace, concentrating on your walking form. Refer to yesterday's lesson on posture, and add the arms today.
Warm up with 5 minutes at a very easy pace.
Stretching 5 minutes.
Now resume your walk at a comfortable pace.
End with 5 minutes of gentle stretching.
Walking Form - Arms
• Arm motion can lend power to your walking, buring 5-10% more calories and acting as a balance to your leg motion.
• Bend your elbow 90 degrees.
• Hands should be loose in a partially closed curl, never clenched.
• Clenching your fists can raise your blood pressure and should be avoided.
• With each step, the arm opposite your forward foot comes straight forward, not diagonally.
• As the foot goes back, the opposite arm comes straight back.
• Keep your elbows close to your body - don't "chicken wing."
• Your forward hand should not cross the center point of your body.
• Your hand when coming forward should be kept low, not higher than your breastbone.
• Many poor examples of arm motion are seen with walkers pumping their arms up high in the air, this does not help propel you.
• If at first you find adding arm motion tiring, do it for 5 to 10 minutes at a time and then let your arms rest.
One New Thing
Note one new thing today that you didn't notice before - either about yourself, your walking partner, or something you see along the walk.
Energy Bars
Energy bars are enjoying huge success - with sales increases of 60% in recent years. They are a better snack choice than a candy bar or bag of chips. But they still are high in carbohydrates and sugars and lack the variety of vitamins and nutrients in whole foods such as an orange, banana, or package of baby carrots. Enjoy them once in awhile, or use as a meal replacement on a long walk.
Snacks and Energy Bars
Recipe of the day:
Make Your Own Protein Bars: This makes a meal replacement bar at a mere fraction of the cost of packaged protein bars and none of their glycerin, preservatives, or sugar, these low-fat bars are rich in fiber and taste great with a light spread of natural peanut butter across the top. Served with a protein drink, they make a well-balanced meal. 157 calories, 15 g protein, 5 g fat, 23 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber.
Word of the day
Anaerobic metabolism
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