Motivation for Walking
3 Goals for Maintaining a Successful Walking Routine
The key to any exercise program is maintenance. After the initial newness wears off, how do you motivate yourself to continue? Setting goals for yourself can be most beneficial. Here are three you may wish to use.
Set a Distance Goal
Challenge yourself to walk a certain distance each day or a given distance in a week. If you’re just beginning keep your goal modest. Let’s begin with a mile. The first day you walked around the block, which might be a quarter mile. The next day you walked around the block and down to the corner and back. Maybe that’s a third of a mile. Each day increase the distance a little more.
Ways to Measure Distance
The above method of measurement is okay in the beginning but inadequate for longer distances. There are several methods for more accurately measuring distance.
- Find a Track. High schools, colleges, parks and frequently health club gyms have tracks. Most high school tracks are about 400 meters, about 2.5 meters short of a quarter mile. That distance is for the inner most lane. Check with the high school track coach for the exact distance. Park and indoor tracks are frequently shorter distances. Smaller ones may require sixteen or more circuits to equal a mile. Check with administrative staff for this information.
- Get a Pedometer.Pedometers measure steps and convert them to miles/kilometers. A pedometer is a necessity if you are walking over unmeasured territory (malls, neighborhood streets, parks, etc.) Most sporting goods departments in stores like Wal-Mart and Target have inexpensive models (between $5.00 and $10.00). If you don’t want to bother setting your stride, that’s okay. Just divide the steps by 2000. You’ll have a margin of error of less than 10%.
- Use a Treadmill. Treadmills and other walking machines will provide an accurate account of distance. The disadvantage is the scenery doesn’t change much since they tend to be indoors at health clubs and park field houses. Many gyms have televisions and radios with headphones at the treadmill so you can still watch or listen to your favorite programs. Others walkers like to bring a book or magazine. There’s no danger like a crack in the sidewalk or traffic to worry about.
Set a Time Goal
There are two types of time goals one can set.
- Walking Faster. Once you have reached a comfortable walking distance for yourself, attempt to cover that distance more quickly. For this type of goal the track or treadmill might be the best places as they will be the most accurate method to measure improvement. Pedometers are difficult to read while walking and even though the distance covered appears equal to that of yesterday things like an extra stoplight, railway crossing signal will affect the time.
- Walking Longer. If your goal is to increase your walking time and not speed, you can walk almost anywhere. Walking over paved surfaces and unpaved surfaces will result in a time differential that has nothing to do with distance walked.
Location as Goal
After your walking program has progressed through either or both stages above, you might want to pick a walking destination. Instead of driving to the mall and walking inside, walk to the mall and then walk inside. When you take your car for auto service that will take several hours, walk home and when the car is ready walk back and pick it up. Of course these destinations should be within your normal walking distances. If your longest walk to date has been five miles, don’t try to walk 10 miles to the mall and back.
Some Walking Destinations
- Shopping Mall
- Auto shop
- Supermarket (No more than one bag of groceries to carry)
- Shoe store (Treat yourself to a new pair of walking shoes)
- Your job
- Bank
- Restaurant (Don’t eat too much. Remember you have to walk back.)
Never be embarrassed because you can’t walk as far as somebody else. A person just starting out will get tired more easily than someone who has been exercising for years. People recovering from strokes or heart attacks may find two minutes all they can do. Tomorrow they’ll do two minutes and ten seconds. And the next day ten seconds more and so on.
Distance, time and location can all be used as motivators to maintain a walking routine. They can be used individually or in combinations. Try to find a shorter route to work or cover a measured distance more quickly. The important thing is to set the goals and keep walking.
Caution: Before beginning any exercise program be certain to speak with your doctor or medical advisor.
Other Walking Articles:
Walking Indoors When the Weather is Bad
Walking
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