This is the season for charity walks - and doing good can be good for you. Most walkathons welcome participants of all ability levels, and many will allow whole families to walk together.

Walking is great exercise, but you really must hoof it for an extended period to get a leg up in your battle of the bulge.

In fact, moderate-intensity activity, such as slow walking, probably won’t lead to weight loss, but don’t write off such exercise entirely, Indiana University researchers say.

“Although moderate-intensity physical activity does provide numerous health benefits, such as reducing blood pressure and risks for systemic inflammation and type 2 diabetes, you better increase the intensity of your activity to lose weight unless you exercise more than an hour almost every day,” says Dong-Chul Seo, an assistant professor in the university’s Department of Applied Health Science.

'A long way to go'

Seo says based on his study, people who engaged in vigorous physical activity were less likely to be overweight or obese. What’s more, his findings confirm information from the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that slightly less than half of Americans are meeting the guidelines for moderate physical activity, up from just 15 percent in 1997.

"We still have a long way to go," Seo says. “Less than a half of Americans meet either the vigorous or moderate physical activity guideline."

Seo uses physical activity guidelines recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in "Healthy People 2010," the federal government’s health objectives for the next 10 years.

The guidelines say that “vigorous physical activity” is exercising for at least 20 minutes in a manner that makes you sweat or breathe hard – and doing it three or more days a week. By contrast, moderate physical activity is exercising for for at least 30 minutes, but not working up a sweat or hard breathing, for five or more days in a week.

10 tips to start a walking program

Yet, Seo cautions, making an active lifestyle a habit, regardless of the intensity of the exercise, is more important than exercising vigorously.
 
If you want to start a walking program, here are eight tips to keep in mind:

•  Choose a safe place to walk. Make sure there are plenty of lights and other people exercising at the same time.

•  Start slowly and keep the pace for about a week to avoid stiff and sore muscles and joints, increasing it in length and time when you feel comfortable.

•  Find a partner or group of people to walk with you, but make sure they can walk at your level and speed.

•  Wear shoes with thick, flexible soles to cushion your feet and absorb shock.

•  Wear synthetic fabrics that absorb sweat and remove it from your skin.

•  Wear a baseball cap or visor in the summer; a knit cap in the winter.

•  Perform light stretching exercises before and after you walk.

•  Begin by walking slowly for five minutes to give your body a chance to warm up. Increase your speed for the next five minutes.

•  Don’t forget to cool down as you near the end of your walking route.
 
•  Walk at least three times per week. If it’s raining outside, find an enclosed shopping  mall or a tall office building in which you can walk up the steps.

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Source: Indiana University
Reference: American Journal of Health Education

Nubella News, a division of Marketing Technology Solutions, Inc., offers content intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We encourage our readers to seek prompt medical care for health issues and consult their physicians before starting a new diet, fitness regimen, or medical treatment.