I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more...

[WWDDFD]

Hey people, I'm looking for some advice.

 

 

As some of you may know, I've been walking for the past 14 weeks, pretty randomly though. I'm trying to lose a crapload of weight, and I don't care how long it takes, just as long as I lose it. (I think I'm about 330 pounds, 6'0")

 

 

Anyway, last week I finally gave up on this woman I've been chasing (yeah yeah, I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about her), and she was my original inspiration to lose all this weight. Now of course that she's gone, I thought I'd lose my inspiration, but oddly enough I haven't. In fact I've been motivated to stop randomly walking whenever I can, and put myself on a steady regimented schedule for walking instead.

 

 

Now, my initial plan is 6 days a week in a pyramid;

 

Sunday: walk 1.5 miles

Monday: walk 2.0 miles

Tuesday: walk 2.5 miles

Wednesday: walk 3.0 miles

Thursday: walk 2.5 miles

Friday: walk 2.0 miles

 

In addition to this, I've turned the tension adjustors on the arm swings on the treadmill up pretty high, and I use them for the first 0.23 miles each day.

 

 

This is just for the first week however; my plan is to increase the distance I walk each day by 0.05 miles from the previous week's distance, so the second week I did:

 

Sunday: walk 1.55 miles

Monday: walk 2.05 miles

Tuesday: walk 2.55 miles

Wednesday: walk 3.05 miles

Thursday: walk 2.55 miles

Friday: walk 2.05 miles

 

In addition, I increase the arm-swing distance by 0.07 miles, so the second week I'll do 0.30 miles with them, and the next 0.37, and so on.

 

 

 

Does this sound like a good plan? A year from now it looks like I'll be doing

 

S 4.15

M 4.65

T 5.15

W 5.65

T 5.15

F 4.65

 

with 3.87 miles each day using the arm swings on high tension.

 

 

Opinions anyone? I'm on the second week of this now.

[WWDDFD]

Oh yes, and I'd like to get a feel of the speed I should be walking too. 14 weeks ago I was struggling with 2.6mph, and I've gotten my average speed up to 2.923mph (that includes warmup time though); today I did 3.139mph over 1.6 miles, but I don't think I'll be able to sustain that all week, especially for the 3.1 miles I'll do on wednesday.

 

 

Does this seem too slow? I can't seem to get a measurement of what people should normally be walking at; I've seen people say average walking speed should be 4mph, but that seems WAAAY too high to me. I feel like my legs are going to fall off if I go 3.5mph for more than 3 minutes.

[EnigmaXOXO]

I can't seem to get a measurement of what people should normally be walking at

 

I was told that a good pace was: "where you could could still talk --- but didn't want to." You want to be working in this target range for 30 minutes. Add ten minutes to that for your warm-up and 10 additional minutes to cool down (walk slow).

 

I use to think that running the entire two miles and pounding the heck out of myself was the way to go, but running is "high impact" and I eventually suffered shin splints and damaged knees.

 

DON'T DO THAT!

 

Also, make sure you stretch out those leg muscles before and after your workout, and get plenty of water to fend off those nighttime leg cramps. You don't have to run a marathon to burn calories. But as your stamina increases, you can extend your workout time and/or increase your speed in random spurts --- speed up a little for a few minutes, than slow back down.

 

Later, you may want to incorporate some weight training into your regiment as I did. Start light, and use your aerobic exercise as your "warm up."

[Arabess]

You keep at it....WWDDFD!!!!

 

Walking is not only good for your weight....it also helps your stress and mood factors. In time, think about adding leg weights or buy yourself some steel toed boots. In my job, I easily walk 10 miles a day and with the boots....it'll 'for sure' firm you right up.

[WWDDFD]

Yeah, I started weight lifting casually 2 weeks ago too. Right now I'm just starting out so I'm not quite sure what I'm doing; I'm basically doing lateral lifts and bicep curls for the time being.

 

I intend to do some leg stuff, but I haven't cleaned up my basement to find room for the damn bench yet, so all I can do is arm stuff right now.

 

 

That will be my next project; learning how to lift properly =)

[ArdeaCandidissima]

Way to go! Excellent program. You're doing it for you, but keep us posted so we can give you the positive feedback you need.

[reasontosigh]

Great thread title - that's a great song! I wondered if this is one of the songs you play while walking/working out.

[Arabess]

You don't need expensive equipment. Duct tape cans of fruit or veggies to your legs and continue your exercises. ALSO....concentrate on the muscle you are exercising.....only use THAT ONE when creating friction. Like if you do a leg bend....don't USE your back or lower leg.....use your thigh only. Feel it moving......

 

I now do the exercises for a whole group of shipyard workers each morning. It's not about speed and numbers....it's all about stretching and using the muscle you are targeting.

 

I wish I could explain it better. I'm not a pro.....

[WWDDFD]

Originally posted by reasontosigh

Great thread title - that's a great song! I wondered if this is one of the songs you play while walking/working out.

 

 

Nah, it has a BPM of 132. I can't maintain that speed yet;

 

my walking playlist consists of songs in the 120-125 BPM range.

 

 

I've found that using music is an excellent way of forcing you to maintain a pace, as long as it's consistent. Lucky me, I have a metronome =)

[InmanRoshi]

If you're really serious about your exercise, buying a wristwatch/heartrate monitor is well worth your money (a thousand times over in fact). Exercising at 30 minute of your THR (target heart rate) is more effective than 3 hours of insufficient pacing. In fact, after extended amount of time of cardio, its almost a detriment to keep exercising in regards to weight loss, because you trigger an inherent survival mechanism in your body that says "Whoa, this sabertooth tiger is really chasing me ... I need to conserve energy and start using it more efficently or else I'm going to run out" As a result, your body's metabolism will slow and your body starts eating muscle and protein for energy instead of burning fat (which is why marathon runners have such little muscle tone).

 

Here's the easiest way to find your target heart rate ....

 

Subtract your age from 220. This number is the maximum times your heart can beat in one minute. If you are just beginning, your target heart rate should be between 60 to 75% of your maximum heart rate but after six months you can safely exercise up to 85%.

 

Exercise at your target heart rate for 30 minutes at least 3 times a week. As you get in better shape, instead of making your exercise routines longer, do them more often. Bump it up to 30 minutes for 5 to 6 times a week, instead of going for an hour and a half 3 times a week.

 

Good luck, I'm rooting for you.

[InmanRoshi]

Also wanted to add that I strongly encourage you to weight train in tandem with cadio, and help boost your sitting metabolism. When you add muscle, you are always burning fat .... even when you sleep. Go to your local gym and take a look around. There are lots of overweight people on the stairclimbers and bikes, and most of the thin people are in the weight room.

[WWDDFD]

I averaged 46 minutes a day, 6 days this week.

 

Several days this week I had the urge to keep going past my scheduled distance, but I stopped when I planned to. Tomorrow I'm not scheduled to walk at all, but I may have the urge to in the morning.

 

 

So here's my question: Should I chill out and not walk? I mean, I don't want to over-stress myself at all, do I? 280 minutes of exercise this week is far above the minimum reccomended by most people (I think sustained weight is reccomended at 30 minutes 4 times a week, minimal weight loss is 30 minutes 5 times a week), but I have a really low metabolism, so I kind of need to work out a lot.

[SoleMate]

The decision whether to go beyond your plan would depend on whether you can handle it health-wise, and also on whether you run the risk of burning out. If your doctor says go for it, and you really are feeling good, then I would say definitely go as long as you feel good. It can sometimes be astonishing how fast one's fitness develops, and it's important to keep your workouts working for you.

 

Congratulations on what you've done so far! You're really on the right "track" (hee hee).

[jenny]

hey baby! good on ya! that's terrific! if you ever want support, PM me; i'm still on the bowflex plan to get more toned, and it really helps to update someone every day.

 

i'm down to 109, but i should not be focusing on weight so much, because my arms and legs are still pretty flabby. i shudder to think of what my percentage must be at the moment.

 

you are doing so terrific, mentally and physically, it sounds. it's quite inspiring - and this is where that methodical thinking and persistence will work wonders; i envy it.

[WWDDFD]

Here's something I've found that really helps me a lot; might work for those of you who are lacking motivation to improve yourself.

 

 

Anyway; in computer engineering, there is a term we use called "heuristic", which means "rule of thumb". When we use use this term in computers, we usually use it to calculate the value of something; like when programming a game of chess, the heuristic will give more points to capturing a queen than to capturing a pawn, so the computer knows which method is better.

 

 

Taking this concept and putting it towards exercise, I've developed a simple heuristic formula to judge how much effort I put into each workout.

 

The formula: (miles walked + 0.75 * miles with the arm swings) * miles per hour

 

 

For example, today I walked 1.65 miles, did 0.37 miles with the arm swings, and averaged 3.026 miles per hour, so my effort heuristic for today is:

 

(1.65 + 0.75 * 0.37) * 3.026 = (1.9275) * 3.026 = 5.83

 

The number really doesn't mean anything on it's own, but it's value comes in when you compare it to other days; for example, one week ago today I did 1.6 miles, 0.3 miles with the arm swings, at 3.139mph, thus giving me an effort of 5.73, meaning I did 0.1 points more "effort" today.

 

 

It's actually quite a good way to boost confidence and morale; because even if you don't feel like you're doing any better, the numbers tell a different story, especially if you view it week by week.

 

 

Last week I did 46.581, the previous week I did 43.954, and the week before was 40.444. I hope to do at least 49 this week.

[WWDDFD]

...

 

 

I love numbers.

[reasontosigh]

I can tell!

 

I just wanted to add to the heuristic value of those of us on here who are rooting for you.

 

Way to go!

 

[WWDDFD]

Finally got around to buying a heart monitor; I averaged 145bpm.

 

 

That sound good?