TIPS ON HOW TO WALK FASTER

Mark Fenton, one of the nation's leading experts in fitness walking and author of The Complete Guide to Walking, encourages people who are starting a program to build up their distance and time spent walking first working up to as much as an hour of walking three days a week before trying to increase the pace.

That way they are fitter and stronger and less likely to be injured or frustrated, he says.

Many people are comfortable walking at a speed of about 3.5 mph and initially find it challenging to increase their speed beyond that. "From my experience, having coached a lot of walkers, I've found that people feel biomechanically limited to go much faster. They say to me, 'I can't move my legs any faster. I don't feel I can get my heart rate up just walking.'"

But as folks reach and exceed 4 mph, Fenton says they feel walking becomes a tremendous workout but still easy on the body.

To boost your walking speed without injury, Fenton recommends:

Make sure you are warmed up before starting any workout.

Be sure to use tall posture.

Take quicker as well as longer strides.

Bend your arms at a 90-degree angle for a quick, compact arm swing.

Push off vigorously with your toes at the end of each stride.

Make sure to do some stretching, at least briefly, afterward.

Don't ignore, or exercise through, pain. Always see a doctor if pain is not relieved by several days of rest, ice, massage and elevation.

Work toward incremental, not monumental, increases.

__________________
Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny


Kimmy