Lesson 4: Staying Motivated, Setting Goals, Measuring Progress
New Horizons
The world is your oyster. You have a consistent walking routine. You are feeling pleased with the positive effect it is having in your life. You want more of it. You want to expand and venture into other activities. What's next?
You could learn racewalking. It looks funny, but learning the proper techniques for racewalking, allows you to walk at a significantly faster rate, opens up a whole new category of events and has its own community. Two excellent sources of information about racewalking are Racewalk.com, and North American Racewalking Foundation.
You can also develop a more well-rounded fitness program. Walking is a fantastic place to start. You have literally taken some very important steps. The benefits are numerous. However, a complete fitness program has three components; aerobic exercise (which you get through walking), strength training and flexibility development. And though you are already getting aerobic training through your walking program, cross-training is an excellent way to improve your overall fitness.
Strength training does not have to be done at a gym, nor does it need to be done with weights. Both are options, of course, but strength training can also be done using your body weight as resistance, or with many devices such as special resistance bands, swiss balls or medicine balls. There are hundreds and books and videos that will show you how to do the exercises, though I would recommend that, at least initially, you are properly taught by a professional trainer (either individually or with a class) for two reasons. First, by learning the proper form in each exercise, you get maximum effectiveness from your workout. Second, by eliminating improper movement, you minimize your risk of injury.
Flexibility training is another activity that can be learned through books and videos and, again, I recommend learning the exercises with a professional. An excellent (and classic) book on stretching is Bob Anderson's Stretching.
Cross-training activities are a terrific way to improve your overall conditioning and it is a good idea to explore other activities that are enjoyable to you. A natural winter extension of walking, for example, is cross-country skiing which is a superb, full-body workout because you are using poles. Some other sports you may want to try are swimming, bicycling, dancing, pilates, yoga, rowing or kayaking. This is far from an exhaustive list. Anything that attracts you in any way or that you think might be fun is an activity that you can research, sign up for a class and decide if you like it.
