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Taking Your Walking
Program to the Next Level
By Wayne L. Westcott |
The most popular fitness
activity among older adults is walking, and for many good
reasons. First, walking is an excellent means for
concurrently burning calories and conditioning your
cardiovascular system. Second, walking is a relatively
low-risk physical activity that has a lower injury rate than
higher impact alternatives, such as running.
Third, walking is an easily accessible activity that can be
done almost anywhere. Fourth, walking is a fairly
inexpensive exercise that requires only a good pair of
running or walking shoes. Fifth, walking lends itself to
partner activity, talking with a friend as you enjoy
striding around the neighborhood. Sixth, it is easy to
monitor your walking progress by timing your walks and / or
counting your steps with a pedometer.
You may be saying, “Yes, these are all good reasons for
walking, and I really enjoy my walking program. However, I
would like to take my walks to a higher level with a little
more challenge and excitement.” If so, I suggest that you
add a weekend hike to your regular walking regimen.
In my personal experience, I have found my Saturday hike to
be an excellent complementary activity to my weekday running
program. Although I prefer the steep trails in the Blue
Hills Reservation (headquartered in Milton), there are
hiking options for all ability levels in this remarkable
recreation preserve. If you would rather hike on paved
surfaces, I recommend the almost countless trails at
Wampatuck State Park (Hingham). Of course, there are many
other excellent hiking areas on the South Shore, all of
which offer a pleasant change of pace from your neighborhood
walking routes.
Once you have mastered hiking on relatively hilly or uneven
terrains, you may consider some of the trails that require
some real rock walking, by heading up and down Big Blue and
its sister slopes in the Blue Hills. All of the trails
(easy, moderate and more challenging) are well marked and
labeled according to their difficulty. Maps of the various
trails are also available and quite useful if you are not
familiar with the hillsides.
Hiking with a partner is advantageous for many reasons,
including safety and socialization. It is always a good idea
to carry a cell phone, a bottle of water and a band aid,
just in case.
With respect to hiking attire, I definitely recommend a
well-fitted pair of hiking shoes, which are reasonably
priced and last a long time. I have found that there is
typically less wind in the woods so it doesn’t feel as cold
when you are hiking the trails. Therefore, dress a little
lighter than you would for walking around the high school
track. In fact, you may want to dress in layers so that you
can easily remove a light windbreaker if you become too warm
during the hike.
Once you start a weekend hiking program you may become
addicted to this interesting and challenging outdoor
activity. Be cautious, however, about hiking in wet weather
as the rocky sections of the trails can become quite
slippery.
Although all forms of hiking provide excellent exercise and
promote physical fitness, going up and down the hills offers
specific conditioning benefits. Hiking up the hills places
greater stress on your cardiovascular system as indicated by
heavier breathing and faster heart rates. Hiking down the
hills places greater stress on your muscular system, which
you are more likely to feel the following day in the form of
mild muscle soreness.
Because hiking is more demanding than level walking, adjust
your hiking distance accordingly. As a general guideline,
begin your hiking experience with a distance that is about
two-thirds your normal walking distance. As you become more
accustomed to hiking you can gradually try longer trails and
higher hills. |
About The Author
Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D., is fitness research
director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, and author of 20
books on strength training.
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