The Benefits
Fitness walking is a total body exercise. It improves the efficiency of the heart and lungs, it burns fat and calories whilst building muscle and bone strength. It also increases flexibility.

The benefits of Fitness Walking include: -

• Reduce the risk of cardio vascular diseases.
• Reduce blood pressure levels.
• Reduce cholesterol levels.
• Reduce obesity.
• Reduce the risk of colonic cancer.
• Reduce the chances of developing diabetes.
• Reduce stress levels.
• Leaves you three times less likely to suffer a stroke.
• Relieve the pain and stiffness in Osteoarthritis of the knee and probably helps prevent arthritis developing in the first place.
• Further evidence has associated Alzheimer's disease with previous inactivity: this means that by exercising early on we are investing in our future independence.

In addition to the health benefits regular exercise can make you feel better about yourself. People also notice that they are less tired, have better concentration and find it easier to lose weight. This leads to greater confidence and an increased feeling of well-being.

Overall research shows that walking is a low risk, high gain activity especially suitable for the otherwise inactive and perhaps older age group. It is never too late to start. We are designed to be active - if we are not there is a general deterioration of the body. Muscles weaken. The heart weakens, thus reducing the volume of oxygen and nutrients delivered to the muscles and other essential organs.

Great gains can be seen for those who Fitness Walk for 30 minutes daily. Fitness walking is a sport and as with all sports, there is a right and wrong way of doing it. Proper technique will reduce the risk of injury to joints and muscles. Fitness Walking is far less stressful to the knee joints than running. As with other sports we should start slowly so as to gradually loosen up the joints and warm up the muscles. Then stretch out the major muscle groups before quickening the pace. Towards the end of the walk, gradually slow the pace down to a stroll and stretch out the same muscles again at the finish. Clothing should be breathable and loose.

Quality, supportive cross training or purpose made walking shoes are essential. Drink plenty of water before and after the walk to prevent dehydration. During hot weather take a drink with you and don't fitness walk after a big meal. To get maximum benefit from fitness walking, you should walk as fast as you can whilst getting a little out of breath, but still being able to carry out a conversation.

If walking with friends, you should take care that you are not walking too slowly, thus not getting the benefits, or worse still, walking too fast to keep up, risking injury. Because of this it is probably best to walk with an organised group of similar ability, hence our A, B and C walks.

Technique
Learning proper walking posture and technique ensures that your body is correctly positioned and aligned and that your joints are not under undue stress. Follow the guidelines below: -

• Keep the chin parallel to the ground and the head in a neutral position.
• Keep the shoulders down, back and relaxed.
• Pump the arms to condition the upper body. They should be bent at 90 degrees at the elbow and pumped back and forth with small movements. As stamina increases, so should the arm movements.
• Contract the abdominals, tuck the pelvis under.
• Keep the back straight.
• Lift and open the chest.
• Keep the hips square.
• Look ahead at eye level, keeping the neck elongated - imagine a puppet being pulled up on a piece of string.

Once the posture is correct then the actual stepping action can be mastered. This is a heel to toe movement as follows: -

• The leading heel strikes down.
• Transfer the weight to the ball of the foot then onto the toes to push off.
• Feet should be parallel and pointing forwards.
• Knees should be relaxed and soft.
• The stride should be fairly small - glide, do not bounce along.
• Breath naturally. It should be possible to hold a normal conversation. Slow down if gasping for breath.

When both posture and walking techniques have been mastered then we can increase speed and distance adding inclines and declines into the walk, in other words, work harder.