Walking your way to health

We all know we need to move more.  Many of us sit at desks for several hours per day, whether for work or school; as a result our bodies become stiff and tight.

In 2009, the Surgeon General came out with a recommendation that people get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate to intense exercise.  This equals 30 minutes 5 days per week.  Of course more is better, but you can start by focusing on 30 minutes daily and then build your program to add different types of exercise.

Walking is the easiest form of exercise because you don’t need any equipment except shoes.  In general walking doesn’t burn a lot of calories but it is something that you can do longer (i.e. you might not be able to swim even one lap in the pool but you can walk for an hour at your own pace).

Here is calculator to help you figure out how many calories you are burning while walking, this is dependent on speed and your body weight.  http://walking.about.com/library/cal/uccalc1.htm

Where is your favorite place to walk?  Do you park closest to or farthest from the grocery store?

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