Just Walk!

Are you a regular walker?

I ask this because there are so many benefits that come from a regular walking program, especially if you’re trying to drop a few pounds.

Walking is by far one of the best ways to rev up the metabolism and get your inner engine burning fat more efficiently. You will no doubt stay in better shape and burn more calories. It’s also been proven that walking lessens the chance of becoming diabetic, it lowers the body mass index and also body fat.

We’ve all heard the experts over the years recommend people walk 10,000 steps a day. Do you know how far that is? Would you believe that’s equal to around five miles. Over an entire day, we take a lot of steps, but when you tell someone that they need to walk about 5 miles every day, it really seems overwhelming. In truth though, this is absolutely needed! We as an overall population sit down more than ever before. This means that the steps we used to get just walking around at work or at home half also been cut. So walking five miles a day seems to be needed even more.

Now the average runner runs five miles in about 40-50 minutes, so you can imagine how long it would take for you to walk five miles. Again, this just seems to be so overwhelming. So this is what we need to do…

Let’s simply try to do better than we have been doing up to this point. I’d love to make you go out and walk or run five miles every single day, because your health depends on it, however, you and I both know that’s just not gonna happen, is it? So let’s start with something better than what you’ve been doing.

If you are sedentary and have not exercised or done regular activity in over one year, simply start with a brisk walking program for 20-30 minutes four times per week. You can walk 2 hours out of the 168 hours there are in an entire week. DON’T TELL ME YOU CAN’T DO THAT! If that is what you are thinking, you are simply wasting your time reading this, and I’m wasting my time writing this to you.

However if you want to make one simple step towards better health, a walking program for 30 minutes four times per week is probably second on the list behind changing your eating habits. So doing this would be a fantastic start. I highly recommend sticking with this for at least one month, then by that time it will be time to bump it up to either a walk/jog combination or to add more days to your regimen.

If you have been in a regular walking program for a while now, at least one month, it’s time to step up your game to the next level. Move your walk into a walk/jog routine. It’s amazing how much better you will feel just moving from a walking program to a walk/jogging program. Your heart and lungs feel so much more open and healthy and you feel so much better throughout the whole day. Honestly it makes all the difference in the world. AND I DON’T WANT TO HEAR “I CAN’T RUN!” If you’ve been on a regular power-walking routine for at least one month, there is no reason in the world you can give me to not give a short walk/jogging program a try. After a month of good walking, you have built up your legs and joints enough to do at least one minute of jogging every few minutes. Just do it! You’ll be fine!

There are so many benefits of walking. It’s not just to get from point A to point B! Some of the major benefits of walking are that you decrease your risk of heart attack, helps you control your cholesterol, helps manage your weight, your risk of stroke is lowered, and my favorite is that it keeps your stress levels low. Just by being outside and looking up at the blue skies alone will decrease your stress. Do this for at least 30 minutes and you feel tons of stress leaving your body, every time!

So how do you get started?

That’s easy, put on some comfortable shoes, open your door, and just start walking. Here’s another hint I have for you… Try to never look down. Look up and see what’s going on in the world.

EASY WAYS TO STEP IT UP...

Use the furthest entrance into your workplace from your parking spot or bus stop, and walk through the building to your work area.

Don't stand, pace - when waiting for the bus, waiting at an elevator, etc. pace around in circles rather than just standing.

Park in the far back of the parking lot and walk further to the door.

Get off the bus a stop or two before your usual stop and walk the rest of the way.

Circle the room when waiting for meetings to start.

Take the stairs rather than the elevator, especially for one to three floors, both up and down.

When making a phone call, stand up and pace around as you talk.

When people want to meet for lunch, suggest you walk to the restaurant or take a walk after the meal.

Walk to the TV to change channels instead of using the remote.

During TV commercials, get up and walk around the house.

When doing errands, park in a central location and walk to your store destinations.

Return the shopping cart all the way into the store after grocery shopping.

Never drive through - get out and park and walk into the bank instead.

Walk the dog much longer.

When waiting for a train, plane or bus, secure bags and walk around.

Instead of going to a matinee, visit a park or museum.

Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC.

Consistancy Gets You the Results You Want!

Do you ever spend a day or two every now and then or every weekend, etc. eating or drinking way out of control? Or have you ever just canceled your training session without rescheduling it?

You see, most of my days are spend listening to stories of how badly people ate, and how passed out they were from drinking too much, especially at an "older, grown up age", and honestly I get sick just thinking about it. The bad part is people do this then come into their training sessions complaining that nothing seems to work, the weight just isn't coming off. Why is this workout so hard? Well, your body feels like crap because of the way you treat it. That's why. Just sayin!

Imagine if for only one month you avaoided red meat, ate every 3 hours, only had one alcholic drink a week, and never ever missed your training sessions. How do you think you would feel then? How do you think you would look? Do you think you would lose some weight? Do you think your cholesterol might be a bit better? What about your blood pressure?

Notice I never said to avoid functions or to avaoid a great outing with friends. DO THAT STUFF! Just don't act like a 19 year old college student at a frat party while doing it!

You want to make a change in your fitness level, your weight, your health? Then change your consistancy with the way you eat, drink and act! Think about it. In just one month of being consistant, think of all the good results you could have.

I had one person, a person that needs and wants to lose over 100 pounds, come in and on her warm up on the treadmill decides to go into a dead sprint for one minute...on her warm up. I asked why are you doing this? It's only a warm up, I said. She said... to make up for all the burgers, hot dogs, and beer she had over the weekend. I asked her... you think that this one sprint will help that? She said yep, cause I did it as fast as I could. REALLY? Is this really how people think?

No!!! How about taking a slow jog or even a fast walk for 20 minutes 4 times a week and do it for a month? That's how you're gonna burn fat off that body! Consistancy!!! It's not always about how hard you push for a short time. It's about being consistant over a long period of time. And I'm sorry, but even one month is a VERY SHORT amount of time.

Consistancy is the key! Pushing as hard as you can is great, however when trying to lose weight it's better to be consistant with everything you do, from eating to sleeping, avoiding certain foods and drinks, and not missing your workouts, strength trainings days or cardiovascular days. You simply have to be consistant. That does NOT mean be perfect by any means. It just means be consistant. Be good 6 days out of the week with your eating. Then give yourself a pass on the 7th day. Don't miss your workouts by any means. This means, if you miss a training day, you better take at least 10 minutes and do as many push-ups, squats, and planks as you can right before you go to bed! Don't miss it! If you missed one of your 4 cardio days, you better make it up on next day off!

Do you think Michael Jordan ever missed a practice? No! He was consistant! Do you think Tiger Woods ever misses a practice? No! He is consistant! Why do you think pro Basketball and Major League Baseball have 7 game playoffs? They want the most consistant team to be their champions! That's how they find the best of the best!

You want results, be more consistant!



Chad Cannon is the owner of the Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC.

Burning Calories at the Gym

"Calories burned" readings on gym equipment are only estimates, but they provide a pretty good measure, depending on how honest you are with your information.

You finish your workout on the treadmill and the machine reads 300 calories. But how do you know if that number is truly accurate? There's a good chance it's not.

Burning Calories at the Gym: Crunching the Numbers

At the end of your workout, most cardio machines provide you with the number of calories you burned. Keep in mind though that this reading is an estimate — and often an overestimate — and should not be taken as gospel.

"If you see that you expended 300 calories for a workout, there is probably about a 10 percent margin of error," says Pete McCall, MS, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise. "The number you see on the treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical machine, stair climber, etc., is just an estimate, but it is a relatively accurate estimate. It is based on what is called metabolic equivalents, or METs, which refers to how much oxygen your body uses." McCall says that one MET is equal to 3.5 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of your body weight per minute. This is the amount of oxygen your body requires at rest. When you work harder (e.g., when you exercise), your body burns more METs. "Your body has to expend energy to use oxygen. If you're running, your body needs more oxygen and your body spends more energy," McCall says. The cardio equipment at the gym uses information on the number of METs it takes to perform a given exercise, as well as your weight if you enter it, to give you an estimate of how many calories you burned. "It is more accurate if you enter your weight and your age than if you don't," McCall notes. If you are trying to lose weight, you may be particularly interested in finding out the exact number of calories you burned during your workout. "If people are really concerned about monitoring weight loss, the gym equipment is a good estimate, but the best estimates are going to come from heart rate monitors," says McCall. Newer heart rate monitors allow you to program in your resting heart rate and your age, and they use this information to give you a more precise estimate of the calories you expend.

Burning Calories at the Gym: Maximizing Your Burn

When deciding which piece of gym equipment will give you the best burn, don't count on the calories-burned estimates from the machine. In order to burn more calories, you simply have to work harder. So the best way to determine which piece of equipment will help you burn the most calories is by gauging how hard you are able to work on it — if you're not able to sustain a workout on the elliptical machine, for instance, use the treadmill instead. While you can use the calorie counters on gym equipment as rough guidelines, the most important way to maximize the number of calories you are burning is to find a piece of equipment you enjoy using and to use it often.


By Krisha McCoy, MSMedically reviewed by Niya Jones, MD, MPH at Everyday Health.

Chad Cannon is the owner of the Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC.

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Chad Cannon is the owner of the Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC.