MOVE

Author and fitness consultant Alan Harris is an AFAA-certified trainer (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) and the host of The Absolute Body Power television show. Harris, who also created the bestselling Absolute Body Power Total Mind and Body Workout (Hatherleigh Press, 2006), says the primary goal of any fitness program, including walking, is to provide a workout for the heart.

“Like any muscle, the heart has to be stressed in order to be strengthened,” Harris explains. “At least one day a week, make your walk a challenging one. Become a little breathless, where it’s difficult to carry on a conversation. Don’t be afraid to get a little uncomfortable. Then, as your body adapts to this increase in exertion, you’ll need to increase the challenge. Walk longer, or add hills to your route.”

Interval walking, says Harris, can provide great – and accelerated – benefits in both muscle tone and cardiovascular conditioning. Unless a health condition or doctor’s advice dictates differently, he suggests the following routine: Warm up with five minutes of moderate walking. For the next thirty minutes, alternate three minutes at a normal pace with thirty-second spurts of fast walking.

“This can be varied according to you current personal fitness level,” he adds, “with the point being that this pattern of stress and recovery provides more of a challenge to the heart and large muscles in the legs. While specifics vary from one individual to the next, your three basic goals in fitness walking should be to increase your heart rate, your body temperature, and your oxygen capacity, all of which will help you burn calories even while resting. Fitness walking can help you achieve all of these goals.”

Tip: To up the fitness quotient, try Nordic Walking (with specially designed poles), which can increase calorie burn by 20 to 45 percent while moving at the same pace. The right shoes and good posture are important to proper stride. Walk with your spine straight, look forward, and swing your arms at your sides for balance and to help raise your heart rate.

Connect

When you choose to be a pedestrian, a whole new world opens up. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself aware of the songs of the different birds along your bath, the multitude of textures that surround you, the varied patterns in the bark and leaves of trees. You’ll notice the diverse number of scents and sounds that surround you. Somewhere in that process of discovery, you may become beautifully aware of your own unique place in the wider world.

“Walking barefoot really makes a difference, even if you only do it briefly,” says McDonald. “It slows you down and gets you into your body immediately. I also find that asking myself questions helps me get into the moment. For example, what does the earth feel like? What are the sounds? The smells? The energy of the place? Getting into the physical space centers you into yourself and your surroundings. It allows us to gently focus on our breath, the way our feet make contact with the earth, to become aware of the feel of the air as it moves past our bodies. All of these individual sensory experiences reconnect us with nature, our history, and our ancestry. In a world of fragmentation and disconnection, walking in nature is an opportunity to support and nurture our spirits.” d

Tip: If circumstances prevent you from going outdoors to walk on any given day, McDonald offers the following: “If you have the space to walk in your home, I suggest taking your shoes and socks off. This simple gesture gives us an opportunity to feel more and have a more direct connection with the floor. Focus on the temperature and texture of the flooring. Put on some music, light candles, and put objects of inspiration along your path (yes, even in your home). Make it deeply personal, creative, and even fun. Concentrate on finding the rhythm of your body that day, at that exact moment in time. Slow down and feel your breath.”