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A walking routine It may seem simple: put on your shoes and… go, right?
While yes, getting out there and hitting the pavement is a great way to start making progress toward your health goals, as with any form of exercise, having a measure to track progress is key to continued growth.
Progress tracking is useful for many reasons. It allows you to set realistic and achievable goals, easily see if your fitness is improving, and feel a sense of accomplishment by comparing your daily, monthly, and yearly progress.
It also helps to adjust the action plan necessary to achieve your goals and see the results more effectively. Without tracking, there would be no method of knowing when to modify the intensity, duration, or difficulty of a program to encourage further progress.
Lack of tracking can lead to a fitness plateau, while tracking can encourage results.
But what exactly do you need to track when walking is his main form of exercise? Is it better to walk a certain distance, time or number of steps?
Benefits of tracking minutes walked
walking has proven health benefits such as aiding in weight loss, relieving joint pain, and improving immune function. To get those amazing health benefits, it is recommended to walk at least 30 minutes at a brisk pace.
One of the reasons I love tracking walks by time is so you can clearly see how your fitness improves. If you start with 5 minutes a day, you may find that a week later you’ll get over those 5 minutes more easily, walk more during those 5 minutes, and may even feel physically ready to walk longer. You can then increase it to 10 minutes a day and slowly build from there. As you focus on the time you spend walking, you’ll also increase your speed, distance, and number of steps as a byproduct.
If walking 30 minutes at a time proves to be a challenge, start with 10-minute increments, three times a day. Or start with just 10-15 minutes a day, and slowly increase your walking time from there until you reach 30 minutes (or more!).
Benefits of following the steps when walking
Many personal trainers give their clients a goal of taking 10,000 steps a day. This popular daily step goal can build accountability and allows work to be done throughout the day, rather than requiring a portion of time spent on exercise.
Studies have suggested that tracking your steps leads to a more active lifestyle which decreases the development of certain health problems. Reaching a step goal creates a sense of accomplishment. It also serves as a motivator to move more throughout the day because every step you take counts. For those on a competitive streak, having that set number in mind can be a very effective motivational tactic. One of the members of our Walking club starts TODAY she even walked up and down her 10-foot hallway to track the rest of her steps before bed!
However, it’s important to note that daily steps are not a one-size-fits-all approach. Studies have even shown that it’s possible to reap the benefits of walking with fewer steps than the standard 10,000 per day. You should start with a goal of steps that you can achieve and be sure to reassess your goal from time to time, especially if you constantly feel discouraged about falling short. One of my clients had her goal set at 10,000 steps a day, but she always fell 8,000 steps short. I advised her to lower his goal to 7,500 so she would feel successful at the end of the day, instead of going to bed feeling defeated. Once he did this for two weeks, he consistently exceeded 7,500 steps and regularly reached 10,000 steps!
Benefits of tracking miles traveled
For those who don’t have a step tracker or like to have a set distance to aim for, mile tracking can be a great method of getting your steps.
A five-mile walk equals about 10,000 steps, which is a great goal for those looking to establish a healthy, active lifestyle. But that’s just a goal; any amount of walking is better than none!
It can also provide a good way to disconnect from your phone and trackers while walking. If you know that one loop around the block equals one mile, then five laps around the block equals five miles and about 10,000 steps. No matter how long it takes you (some days you may be slower or faster than others) or how many steps you take (some days you may take longer strides than others), you know without a doubt that you walked a specific distance, which can feel very rewarding.
Again, it’s important to reassess your distance goal regularly and adjust it to continue to see progress. When starting your walk, start with a mile or even a half mile. If that’s challenging enough, keep this distance for a week or two. Then increase your mileage goal by another half mile. Over time, you will notice that the distance becomes easier to complete and you will see the distance traveled steadily increase.
Which tracking method is best when walking for weight loss?
In my professional experience, walking for a set number of minutes each day is most beneficial when lose weight is your goal. This is for two reasons. First, make sure you set aside a dedicated amount of time for walking for exercise, rather than piling up steps throughout the day as you go about your daily life. This can also have mental health benefits since you will have dedicated time each day to de-stress and concentrate solely on walking. And our mental health plays a huge role in weight loss success. Second, by walking for a set amount of time, you can easily track progress and push yourself harder as you get fitter, rather than limiting yourself to a certain number of steps or miles.
While taking steps is very helpful for your overall health, tracking the steps you take throughout the day, such as walking to the bathroom, walking to the refrigerator, walking to and from your car in the grocery store parking lot groceries etc it can sometimes provide a false sense of activity. Moving throughout the day is great, but it’s important to set aside time to cardiovascular exercise that lifts your heart. I’ve seen step goals discourage this by making people believe they don’t need to exercise since they’re taking a certain number of steps throughout the day. And while mile tracking is exciting and can give you a clear route to walk, if you don’t have the time or energy to hit that distance goal, it can be easier to make excuses to skip your walk.
Therefore, the minute log is what I recommend to my weight loss clients. It creates dedicated time where they focus on exercising and gives them the ability to adapt their speed and distance based on where they are physically and mentally. A 30-minute walk can look different depending on where you are that day: it can be calm and focused on your mental health, or it can be full of intervals They speed up your heart rate and burn calories.
However, keep in mind that a successful fitness plan (and how we track that progress) is different for everyone. We have many members of our Start TODAY community who are losing weight, increasing energy, and feeling better than ever thanks to step or mile tracking. If you’re motivated by the goal of taking a certain number of steps each day, then that method may be best for you! Other people are highly motivated by mileage challenges or like the simplicity of logging a certain number of miles each day or week. So follow up in the way that seems best to you and motivate yourself to keep walking constantly.
This article was originally published on HOY.com
