December 27, 2005
Issue #11
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The Beginner’s Toolkit:
Strap On Your Walking Shoes
Happy Holidays to each and every one of you!
Here we go with the first Beginner’s Toolkit: A segment in the Success For Life newsletter that focuses on the needs of beginners as they adopt the fitness lifestyle.
However, this article is for everyone.
Those of you who have read my story of going from obese to super-fit in Fit Over 40 know of my affinity for walking over running and intense cardio work for shedding body fat and increasing overall health. I cover my personal walking and cardio routines in detail in Fit Over 40, but I have some new info for you.
First, for our beginners: walking is something almost anyone can do, and at any age. You can increase your pace and even keep track of your results by using a $30 pedometer (mine is from www.Walk4Life.com, a company have have zero affiliation with.)
Set a goal of 10,000 steps in a day. This sounds like a lot, but it isn’t — even the average couch potato gets about 2,000-3,000 steps in a day. I know, I found it hard to believe myself. Perhaps a few may get less, but 10,000 steps really does not require much effort. The study I’ll provide below will show you the impact this will have on your health.
I’d like to tell you why it will impact your body fat as well.
Obviously exercise of any kind will “burn calories” — but you should know that this is not the only key to long-term fat burning. I’ll be discussing cellular reprogramming in future issues of Success For Life: a subject that is just now receiving the press it deserves. The Cliff Notes version is that every thought and action you take that is contrary to the “programming” of your current neuropathways and cellular signals serves you exponentially as your body regenerates cellular tissue.
I know…that sounds complex, but isn’t really. Think of it as memorizing something you’re not accustomed to, like a new password or a combination to a new lock.
Before long, this becomes “second nature” to you — you recall it easily. This is cellular programming, cognitive restructuring, and a lot of other lofty-sounding tech stuff that amounts to imprinting the CD that we call our brain. The more imprints that are positive, the more weapons we have (in the form of billions of encoded cells) that literally propel us toward our new paths. This can be as simple as a combination to a lock, or as seemingly “huge” as a lifestyle change.
We’ll be covering more about how anyone can create their lives as they see fit. A lot of this is covered in Fit Over 40, so that’s a great place to start. We’ll cover some of it here as well.
Putting aside the way-out techie stuff, walking is about as close to a sheer fat-burning exercise as you can ask for. While running, jogging, and intense cardio no-doubt burn fat, these activities also no-doubt cause more injuries, especially as we age. Also, these programs are harder to stick to. I could give you the most optimum nutrition and exercise plan on earth, but if it’s next to impossible to stick to longer than a week, why bother? We’re in this for life!
Lastly, a lot of people, mostly beginners and even some advanced trainees, do not have the metabolic means of using a lot of fat for fuel when exercising at high intensity. Guess where the fuel source comes from? Sugar. Not exactly what we want, now is it? Nope — we’re after fat-burning. The ideal is a combination of the two activities as I discuss in Fit Over 40 — why not get the best of both worlds? Still, for the beginner, walking rules. Just try it and see.
Here’s how you can start today: grab yourself a pedometer and a sheet of paper, a good pair of walking shoes, and hit the trail. Pretty simple, huh? You can also do exercises like Nordic Track, the glider, or whatever. Base your activity on the following formula: moderate exercise = about 1,000 steps for every 10 minutes. Intense exercise = about 2,000 steps for every 10 minutes.
You can walk in the mall, around the neighborhood, or even in your home if it’s big enough (although that would get a bit boring!) Just walk, and increase your pace and length a bit at a time, and watch what happens. Your endorphins will increase, which will help propel you to want to exercise ‘more’. Your body fat will steadily decrease. Your health will really benefit, as the study below will demonstrate.
Most of all, you’ll be taking action towards momentum. What does that mean? Well, we must establish a lifestyle that’s momentum-based, not “willpower-based”. Willpower only lasts so long, but momentum can carry you almost effortlessly toward your goals.
Here’s just one of a hundred studies on the benefits of walking. Enjoy, and keep me posted: jon@fitover40.com.
Brisk Walking vs Vigorous Exercise Equal in Preventing Heart Disease
Exercise has been shown in a number of studies to provide some protection against heart disease and stroke. Regular exercise such as swimming, cycling and many other aerobic fitness methods can have benefits beyond the cardiovascular system. Routine exercise strengthens and tones muscles, increases the flexibility of joints, and clearly reduces bone thinning (osteoporosis). This enhanced fitness reduces the risk of falling and breaking bones. Regular exercise can also promote socialization and a general sense of well being.
Controversy over Walking
However, the effectiveness of walking as compared with more vigorous exercise in preventing coronary heart disease has remained controversial. In a study published in the August 26, 1999 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, a team of investigators compared brisk walking with more vigorous exercise in the prevention of heart disease. Their results would appear to settle the issue.
The research team led by JoAnn Manson of the Channing Laboratory at Harvard Medical School based their findings on the Nurses’ Health Study. This is an extraordinarily large, prospective (forward- looking) study. It was started in 1976 when 121,700 female registered nurses 30 to 55 years old completed a mailed questionnaire on their medical history and lifestyle. Every two years, follow-up questionnaires were sent to these nurses to obtain updated information on potential risk factors and to identify newly diagnosed cases of coronary heart disease or other illnesses.
Research on Walking
To study the effectiveness of brisk walking versus vigorous exercise, base-line data were gathered in 1986. The population sample for analysis was made up of 72,488 women in the Nurses’ Health Study who were then 40 to 65 years old. All of the women were free of diagnosed cardiovascular disease and cancer when the present study began in 1986.
The women were divided into 2 groups: those who walked briskly for at least three (3) hours a week and those who exercised vigorously for one and a half (1 1/2) hours a week. Vigorous exercise was jogging, running, bicycling (including the use of a stationary bike), swimming laps, tennis, squash, or participating in calisthenics, aerobics or aerobic dance.
These women were studied for eight years from 1986 to 1994. The end points for study were coronary “events.” These were defined as a nonfatal heart attack or death due to coronary disease that occurred after the return of the 1986 questionnaire and before the end of the study in 1994. During that 8-year period, 645 “incident coronary events” (nonfatal heart attacks or deaths from coronary disease) were documented.
Unexpected Results
The risk of a “coronary event” (a heart attack or coronary death) was found to be significantly reduced — by 30 to 40 percent — for both groups of women! Why was this substantial reduction in heart risk similar for both groups? This can be explained by the fact that the total metabolic equivalent score for the walkers and the vigorous exercisers was similar because the walkers worked out longer each week. Therefore, walking can get the same results as vigorous exercise. It just takes a bit longer.
Conclusions for Heart Health
Dr. Manson and her co-authors conclude that both walking and vigorous exercise reduce the risk of a heart event in women. The strengths of their study include: its prospective design, the large number of women in the study, the long-term follow-up, the repeated measures of physical activity, and the uniform and strict criteria for coronary events. Although this study was exclusively for women, there is every reason to believe that the implications of the study also apply to men.
This study confirms what has been known for a long time — that routine exercise is an excellent, accessible preventative health measure. What is new is the finding that regular moderate-intensity exercise such as brisk walking is every bit as good as more vigorous exercise for the heart.
— Source: The New England Journal of Medicine, August 26, 1999
Jon Benson
Creator/Co-Author of Fit Over 40: Role Models For Excellence At Any Age
Reader Comments:
Feedback On My Joint Pain Article
To all,
One of our readers, David Eller, sent me an email pertaining to my last Success For Life newsletter on joint and muscle pain. He had so many useful and real-world tips that I asked for his permission to reprint his email. David was kind enough to grant permission. I highly suggest you take him up on his advice!
— Jon Benson
Dear Jon,
In your answer about joint pain, you recommend supplements that I’ve heard work & now take myself as a preventive measure. Here’s a couple of additions:
A) In the Vitacost.com e-newsletter I get, the doctor who writes for them gave another ingredient, microlactin, a good review.
Since a friend has had knee problems, I saw its positive review in a study of people with knee pain & forwarded that newsletter to him. (I’d previously recommended many of the supplements you did; & they helped him even after his doctor said they likely would not.)
B) Here are some exercise related points:
1. Some people develop knee pain doing things like running, jumping rope, or higher impact aerobics.
If the supplements aren’t enough to solve the problem, rather than give up cardio or aggravate or worsen their knee problem, the walking I’ve seen you recommend can help. And, for some people, the Nordic Track works well. (Editor’s Note: This comment ties in quite well to my article on walking.)
2. The problem is often physically caused by the kneecap rubbing the cartilage underneath it.
When I began to develop mild knee pain from even the Nordic Track, I found these two things helpful —
a) The information I found at the Stanford Health Library had some preventive exercises. (If the muscle is strong enough to partially prevent this rubbing, the pain often stops.)
Holding on to something & firmly holding your left leg totally straight with your leg muscles, raise it forward as far as you can do without excessive strain — & keep it completely straight then also.
Hold it for a count of 30. Then rest & repeat for 30 & repeat. Then do the same with your other leg.
Once you can do five sets with each leg, simply keep doing it as one of your exercises two or three nonconsecutive days a week.
(They also recommended doing half squats instead of full ones to avoid stress on that part of your knee.)
b) A friend also recommended a product called, “Chopat” strips. They simply fasten with velcro & physically hold your kneecap up a bit to prevent the rubbing.
I found, that when my knee was still acting up, I could put those on while I was doing my normal non-exercise day & the discomfort vanished! That was very nice indeed.
In addition, I found that by wearing them during my Nordic Track workout plus doing the preventive exercises & taking the supplements you recommended, the discomfort also vanished totally & didn’t return.
Since then, I’ve found these strips do not work as well for workouts on an elliptical trainer or stair step device as they cut off the circulation a bit too much when you flex your knee in those exercises. (With the Nordic Track & walking, I didn’t find that to be such a problem as the flexing is less.)
However, I suspect that an upgraded & similar product that costs more; holds the kneecap up successfully; but doesn’t cut the circulation in the back of the knee as much or at all is by now also available.
Hope that is helpful.
Best Regards,
David Eller
For The Seasoned Trainee:
Crazy 8s — An Arm-Blasting, Time-Saving “Miracle Movement”
For all of you who are intermediate or advanced weight training enthusiasts, I have a great tip for you: “Crazy 8s”, or “1-8s” as I used to call them. Our Master Trainer at M-Power recommended these during a workout we had together. I had not done them in years, so I was gung-ho to give it another shot.
That night I couldn’t even hold a 5-year-old girl in my arms! They were that sore — and all in under 10 minutes.
(There are tons of exercise tips like this in Fit Over 40.)
Here’s what you do:
First, pick only one exercise for biceps and one for triceps. Let’s say you pick dumbbell curls for biceps and pushdowns for triceps.
Pick a weight about 70% under your normal 8-rep weight for each exercise. You may even need less — that’s okay. This is about volume and burning out the deep fibers.
Let’s say you pick 25-pound dumbbells for your curls. (This means typically you could do 40s for a few sets of 8.) Start with a set of one rep, followed by about 15 seconds of rest. Then do two reps with the same weight. In fact, you never change weights during Crazy 8s. Rest another 15 seconds. Then three, and so-on, working your way up to 8 reps. Trust me, by the time you get there, you’ll be cursing my name. Rest a bit longer if you need to — the reps are essential. Just don’t rest too long. If you find you need a long rest interval, decrease the weight.
Then, the fun part — you work your way back down to one rep. Just repeat the process with 7 reps/rest; 6 reps/rest, and so-forth.
You’ll finish in under 10 minutes and your arms will be fried for a week.
Jon Benson
Creator/Co-Author of Fit Over 40: Role Models For Excellence At Any Age
Need Some Answers Now?
If you don’t have a copy of Fit Over 40 yet, download yours today. In less than a few minutes you’ll have the number 2 fitness e-book of all time right on your desktop — 304 pages of inspiration, motivation and fitness strategy. Fit Over 40 isn’t just for people over 40 — it’s an invaluable training and motivational e-book that can save you years, even decades of frustration when it comes to learning what works for your body and seeing the results you want. One of the reasons I wrote the book was to save others the years of trial and error I went through as I went from obese to fit. With over 50 role models profiled, Fit Over 40 will stand the test of time for anyone interested in health, strength, fat loss, muscle, and motivation — at any age.
P.S. There are now four free e-books that you can only find here that I give away as a gift when you purchase Fit Over 40. These include Jill Langham, RNs’ The Menopause Solution, the classic Why Grow Old? by Orison Swett Marden, Christian Finn, M.Sc.’s The Best Natural Ways To Increase Your Testosterone, and Bill Pearl’s Secrets To Fitness At Any Age. These e-books alone are valued at over $59, and they are yours for free when you purchase Fit Over 40 today.
Enjoy!
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DISCLAIMER: Any application of the recommendations set forth in this website or in personal consultation by phone, email, in–person, or otherwise, is at the reader's discretion and sole risk. The information I offer is intended for people in good health. Anyone with medical problems of any nature should see a doctor before starting a diet and exercise program. Even if you have no known health problems, it is advisable to consult your doctor before making major changes in your lifestyle. I am not a doctor, nor do I possess a degree in nutrition. The advice I give is based on years of practical application, dealing with the needs of my own health and physique as well as the needs of others. Any recommendations I may make to you regarding diet, including, supplements and herbal or nutritional treatments must be discussed with your doctor.
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