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Walking Programme
Walking is a great way to improve your health. You'll burn calories, feel more energised, sleep better and get to enjoy the outdoors! This 30-day programme helps you build your fitness up gradually. It gives you tips about intensity, posture and motivation.
Day 1
Walk 1 km
Day 1 - you're off! Walking is essential to human health - it helps burn calories, uses oxygen and increases enzyme activity - all good things!
Day 2
Walk 2 km
Double the distance. To be doing your body good, you need to be walking strongly enough to get nice and warm. If you're walking with a friend, you should still be able to have a conversation without too much difficulty.
Day 3
Rest
Do a few stretches for the muscles (or maybe get a yoga book or tape from the library).
Day 4
Walk 2 km
Breathe. Good, rhythmic inhalation and exhalation helps to lengthen the spine and improve oxygen uptake and transport around the body, leaving you feeling energised.
Day 5
Rest
A day of rest, but you could still do some energetic housework, like vacuuming or window washing.
Day 6
Walk 2.5 km
Make sure you drink plenty of water all day - up to eight glasses.
Day 7
Rest
End of Week 1, and you should be feeling reasonably good. Treat yourself - meet a friend for a coffee!
Day 8
Walk 2 km
Make sure you start off slow and build up the pace. Warm muscles mean less likelihood of pulled muscles!
Day 9
Walk 3 km
Double your motivation - walk with a friend. The fun should be in the journey, not the destination!
Day 10
Rest
Keep up those fluids and do some gentle stretching.
Day 11
Walk 3 km
The earlier you do your walk, the more likely it is to get done - so set the alarm half an hour earlier and get out there, rain or shine.
Day 12
Walk 1 km
It's a short walk, so find a hill and add it in.
Day 13
Walk 2 km
The correct intensity is one of the keys to fitness and health success. You should be breathing moderately hard, but still able to speak. Walk with a purpose, not window shopping speed!
Day 14
Rest
Have a complete rest today. Think about getting yourself a pedometer, which measures the total steps you walk in a day - you should aim for 10,000.
Day 15
Walk 3 km
To have the correct posture for walking, you should hold your abdominal muscles firmly and squeeze into your buttock muscles as you stride out. Move your arms strongly and rhythmically across your chest, rather than having them hanging down by your sides.
Day 16
Walk 3 km
If you're overweight you may need frequent rests, but try to hit 20 minutes before you stop. Each week you'll improve, so keep at it!
Day 17
Rest
Besides helping you to feel more energetic and to sleep better, 30 minutes of physical activity five or more days a week has been proven to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, mental health problems, high blood pressure and some cancers - and that's just a start.
Day 18
Walk 4 km
The biggest walk so far, so set out with purpose. You can do it!
Day 19
Walk 1 km
An easier day after yesterday. Research into motivation shows that if you have some support you'll stick to your routine - so find a walking buddy, get your partner or kids out with you, or walk someone's dog.
Day 20
Walk 3 km
Adding hand weights is a great way to make that walk just a bit more challenging!
Day 21
Rest
Enjoy the break. You've been at it for three weeks. Great stuff!
Day 22
Walk 4 km
Hopefully walking will now be an essential part of your daily routine.
Day 23
Walk 3 km
If you're walking with a stroller, remember that it can put strain on your upper back and neck muscles, so try to stand upright into the pram, and don't have your arms stretched out in front of you.
Day 24
Rest
You'll probably be feeling generally more energetic, so feel free to tackle those stairs instead of taking the lift.
Day 25
Walk 5 km
A walk will re-energise your mind and body during periods of stress.
Day 26
Walk 1 km
A lunchtime walk with a workmate will get you up to date with all the work news, and will keep your mind fresh for the afternoon ahead.
Day 27
Walk 3 km
Try to get into the upper end of your training 'zone' - use 70% to 80% effort.
Day 28
Rest
A good chance to find out more about the science of walking - check out the library or the Internet. You could even get a copy of 'New Zealand Walking' magazine - it has lots of stories about people who have been converted to walking and profiles some interesting walks around the country.
Day 29
Walk 3 km
Walking is one of the most primal movement patterns known to humans. It helps burn calories and increases circulation.
Day 30
Walk 5 km
You've done it! Make the end of this programme the beginning of something bigger - start a walking group or train for a half marathon. You could even get adventurous and start cycling in preparation for a duathlon - you can do whatever you set your sights on!
Need to measure how far you're walking?
There's a great new website that lets you plan your routes and measure how far you've gone:
Enter your town and select 'New Zealand' in the drop-down list. You can then use the online tools to do the rest. (Note that this tool requires Google Earth.)
Other ways to measure how far you're walking include:
- Driving the route in your car and measuring it on the odometer (if you're doing a street walk)
- Getting a friend with a cycle odometer to ride the route and measure it.
Some cities have walking distances marked along popular routes.
Updated | 05 Dec 2006.
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