Summer is at the peak of its heat and many of you may be struggling with finding the motivation to keep on moving. One of the best ways to help motivate yourself to get moving is to lace up your tennis shoes and start training for a Walk from Obesity in your area! A Walk from Obesity event is usually one to three miles. Try these training tips in the next few weeks to prepare yourself for the Walk. Each day you’ll build up more mileage so that you can participate in the Walk from Obesity.

If you are just starting a walking program, the most important key is to start slow and gradually progress. If you overdo it, you will risk the chance of unnecessary injury and soreness. So determine the event’s date and back off your training time from there. The time you’ll need to prepare for a walk depends on your current fitness level and the distance of the walk. You will need to plan to train approximately three to four days a week in order to adequately prepare for an organized Walk such as the Walk from Obesity.

Determine a relatively flat outdoor walking route; one that covers a loop is best so that you can easily track your distance. Plan a minimum of three different workouts for the week. Workout #1 a shorter duration, but higher intensity (i.e. walking for time; how much distance can you cover in the shortest amount of time). Workout #2 will consist of a longer duration yet lower intensity. Finally, workout #3 will consist of a combination of low and high intensity, also known as interval training.

Since it is the SUMMER time, always be cognizant of the HEAT when exercising outdoors. Here are a few tips:

  1. Hydration and protection from the sun are going to be your biggest concerns. It’s best to exercise early in the morning, before the sun is out in full force. Ideally before 9am and even earlier come late July and August.
  2. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids throughout the day. Water is best, but if you’re sweating a lot and are exercising for prolonged periods, you’ll need to also replace your electrolytes and carbohydrates. In these instances you’ll want to rehydrate through a drink that contains some electrolytes (sodium and potassium)… using fluids such as diluted Gatorade, Powerade, Vitamin Water, pickle juice, other sports drinks or you can even get electrolyte capsules that you can drop in your water.
  3. The other important thing to consider when exercising outside is the sun! The sun is very intense so be sure to put plenty of sun screen on. Sunglasses will help protect your eyes and it may be helpful to wear long sleeved shirts and a ball cap or visor to protect the arms and face from excess sun exposure; especially if you are fair skinned!

Understand that each week the duration will increase just as the mileage increases in workout #1. For workout #3, you will combine both higher and lower intensity walks with interval training. Start out with a 15 minute walk for week #1 and add five minutes to this workout each week until you build up to 45 minutes (note if you only have one month to train you’ll reach 30 minutes in duration during week four, this is fine). Perform this workout in such a way so that you walk at a slow pace for three minutes and then increase your speed into a power walk for two minutes. Alternate the slow to fast walk pace for the full length of the workout (i.e. if you are to walk for 30 minutes you will do six five minute intervals of three minute slow pace walking followed by two minute fast paced walking).