Karen Hiser

"It's a battle of mind versus mattress.... Starting a day with an early victory over self leads to more victories." Stephen Covey, Principle Centered Leadership.

Walking for Road Warriors

Walking is a great way to get in shape and stay in shape, whether you're on the road or at home.

I like walking for a variety of reasons:

• Walking for 30 minutes at a 4 mph pace burns about 100 calories per 100 pounds of body weight.

Walking requires a single but extremely important piece of equipment: good shoes. You must start with the proper fit. Wearing shoes that don’t fit or don’t properly support your feet can result in almost immediate injury, resulting not only in discomfort and pain, but also discouraging you from achieving your goals.

Setting and Achieving Your Walking Goal

Many experts recommend targeting 10,000 steps per day as a realistic goal. For most of us, 10,000 steps equates to about five miles for most of us, which is on target with the government’s recommendation for 60 minutes of exercise per day for weight loss.

An inexpensive pedometer will help you track your steps. You’ll find plenty of models in the $15 to $25 price range at your local sporting goods store or on the Internet. Wear your pedometer for a few days to monitor your baseline steps per day.

Don’t be discouraged if your baseline is low.

Once you’ve determined your baseline steps per day, set a schedule to reach your goal of 10,000 steps. If you’re not exercising regularly, plan on increasing your steps by roughly 10% of your baseline per day. Folks already exercising three or more times per week can plan a more aggressive schedule and target a 300 to 400 step increase per day.

For example, if your baseline is 2,500 steps, you’ll need about 30 days to reach your 10,000 steps goal. If your goal is more than 30 days away, consider setting incremental goals at 5,000 and 7,500 steps.

Use Healthy Travel Network’s handy goal setting worksheet and tracking log to monitor your progress.

Walking Smart

Although walking is simple and easy, you still need to remember a few basic “dos” and “don’ts.” Life’s short, so be smart and follow these pointers.

• Don’t walk after dark, in high-crime areas, or in sparsely populated areas.
• Don’t walk on the road or highway.
• Do use the buddy system if you are walking early in the morning or at dusk.
• Do drop an email or voice mail to a friend, stating your route and approximate return time.
• Do carry identification, emergency contact information, several dollars, and preferably your cell phone. Check out www.roadid.com for convenient identification and emergency contact tags.
• Do wear reflective clothing if walking early in the morning or at dusk. Look for easy-to-pack Velcro wrist or ankle bands.
• Do dress in layers for cold weather, including a hat.
• Do stay hydrated, drinking 8 ounces of water per hour.
• Do spend the first five minutes of your walk warming up, before kicking it into full gear.
• Do cool down by stretching. Key areas to stretch are hip flexors, hamstrings, and calves.

Visit the Healthy Travel Network Travel Fitness blog for stretching instructions.

Make regular walking part of your travel routine. Before you know it, you’ll be walking 10,000 steps per day, everyday!