In the later months of pregnancy, I walked about an hour, 3-4 times a week—usually picking up or dropping off Evan at school. In fact, the night before I went into labor, I had walked over an hour. Two weeks after giving birth, I started walking again.
Dave gave me the idea to start interval walking. So I would start out slow, then walk as fast as I could for 30 seconds. Then take it easy (but still walking) for 30 seconds. I didn’t use a watch—just kind of kept time with my steps...”One one thousand, two one thousand....” It supposedly burns more stored fat during you workout, and then your body keeps burning long after your workout.
Then I came across this article on cnn.com about how walking can burn belly fat. That’s all I needed to hear. My postpartum belly was begging me to read on. “By peppering in a 30-minute walk with 10 one-minute speed bursts, you can nearly double your calorie burn. As you get stronger, add more intervals, aiming to alternate 1-minute speed bursts with one minute of moderate walking.”
There are many ways to make your walking workout more effective: 30 minute walking routine
(For a 60-minute walk, just repeat this routine twice. You might feel silly doing this by yourself in public, but hey, the burn is worth it so do it like nobody’s watching!)
• 1. Walk 15 minutes, building to a moderate pace.
• 2. Do 30 High-Knee Steps forward (alternating legs); skip for 30 seconds, then walk at a moderate pace for one minute.
• 3. Do 15 Traveling Lateral Squats (turn and move sideways as you squat) in slow motion, followed by five Squat Jumps (squat slightly, then swing arms up as you jump).
• 4. Walk at a moderate pace for 10 minutes.
• 5. Repeat step 2.
• 6. Walk for five minutes at a moderate pace, then five minutes at a slow pace to cool down. Walking Hills
Twice a week, replace 25 percent of your flat route with short or gradual hills. After two weeks, seek out longer or steeper hills, and add 10 percent more climbing each week. Your goal is to do between one-half and two-thirds of your workout on hills.
Or, substitute this treadmill climb: After a 10-minute warm-up, gradually increase the incline from 0 to 2 percent for 5 to 10 minutes. Then, gradually decrease the incline in the same amount of time, finishing with 5 to 10 minutes of flat walking. Each week or two, increase the incline by 1 percent. Walk on!
There are many ways to make your walking workout more effective: 30 minute walking routine
(For a 60-minute walk, just repeat this routine twice. You might feel silly doing this by yourself in public, but hey, the burn is worth it so do it like nobody’s watching!)
• 1. Walk 15 minutes, building to a moderate pace.
• 2. Do 30 High-Knee Steps forward (alternating legs); skip for 30 seconds, then walk at a moderate pace for one minute.
• 3. Do 15 Traveling Lateral Squats (turn and move sideways as you squat) in slow motion, followed by five Squat Jumps (squat slightly, then swing arms up as you jump).
• 4. Walk at a moderate pace for 10 minutes.
• 5. Repeat step 2.
• 6. Walk for five minutes at a moderate pace, then five minutes at a slow pace to cool down. Walking Hills
Twice a week, replace 25 percent of your flat route with short or gradual hills. After two weeks, seek out longer or steeper hills, and add 10 percent more climbing each week. Your goal is to do between one-half and two-thirds of your workout on hills.
Or, substitute this treadmill climb: After a 10-minute warm-up, gradually increase the incline from 0 to 2 percent for 5 to 10 minutes. Then, gradually decrease the incline in the same amount of time, finishing with 5 to 10 minutes of flat walking. Each week or two, increase the incline by 1 percent. Walk on!
