Yoga Articles Walking Exercise

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...to burn calories as it involves considerable exertion of the body. Therefore fitness walking for weight loss is a popular form of exercise. Walking also helps to reduce bad cholesterol levels and hence improves the health of the heart. Those who walk regularly are able to maintain healthy weight quite easily. Fitness walking also helps to lower the risk of developing bone conditions such as osteoporosis. The risk of diabetes and heart disease is also reduced.

Race walking and power walking are two forms of walking. Race walking is a type of sport, while power walking is more of a recreational activity. The benefits of fitness walking apply to both. It is advisable to prepare yourself with light stretching exercise before walking. This will help to prevent muscle sprains and other injuries. Firstly, you need to some comfortable clothes and well fitting shoes. Choose your clothes according to the climate. A warm up is necessary before any type of exercise, including fitness walking. You can warm up by walking slowly for the first 5 minutes. Then stretch the muscles of the calves, chest, lower back, hamstrings and quadriceps for 5 minutes. After this you can begin your fitness walk. The technique for race walking and power walking is the same. One should avoid over striding as this will slow you down. Focus on pushing off powerfully instead. The front foot must come down close to your body and you must walk heel to toe. The hips must be rotated slightly as you walk. The upper body should be upright and your elbows should be at right angles. The arms should be close to the body and must be swung as you walk. Keep the head straight and look forward. The shoulders and neck should stay relaxed.

The issue of fitness walking vs running is a much discussed one. There is a difference between the two forms of exercise. In fitness walking, there is one foot on the ground at all times. On the other hand, running requires the individual to be airborne during each stride. This makes running a high impact exercise as there is a lot more stress exerted on the body during each landing stride.

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