Level 3 – 30 Day Walkfit

Days 1-7

The Walkfit programme begins with Day 1. This can be any day of the week that you choose, but Monday is a good day to get started with something that is going to change the rest of your life. The plan is designed so that the final two days each week coincide with a weekend, when you are likely to have more time and energy to do fitness walking. Begin with 20 minutes brisk walking around a route that you have measured out or around a route you are familiar with.

Start by gradually building your pace over four or five minutes, walking with the longest stride that is comfortable. As your speed increases, your stride will lengthen and so will your distance. If you feel that you are straining, then reduce the pace until you feel comfortable again. It normally takes the first ten minutes of any walk to get into a good rhythm and get the circulation going, but once you do get going, you will find it easy to keep going.

Remember! At any time, if you can’t hold a conversation while you walk, then you are going too fast. Make a copy of each Walkfit plan and fill it in each day to record your progress. It will help keep you motivated.

Days 8 – 14

This week you are going to gradually increase your time from 20 –30 minutes each day. Make sure that you increase the time you walk before you increase your pace – get used to walking longer before pushing yourself harder. As you walk each day, alternate moderate with brisk walking, gently stretching yourself to go a little further without tiring. At the end of the week you should be comfortably able to walk for 30 minutes at a brisk, aerobic level.

Days 15 – 21

You should now be beginning to feel the real benefits of fitness walking. Not only are your heart and lungs benefiting from your increased aerobic activity, but you are burning up calories while you walk. Walking a mile burns only about 10 to 20 per cent fewer calories than jogging a mile. For every mile you walk at 3.5 to 4 miles an hour, you are burning around 80-100 calories and you should be becoming fitter and leaner.

This week you should gradually increase your walking time from 30 to 45 minutes. Again, make sure that you increase the time you walk before increasing your pace. This way you will find it easy to build on the previous day without overdoing it and getting injured in the process.

Days 22 – 28

Only seven more days and you will be a  competent fitness walker. By the end of the third week you should  have increased your walking time so that you were able to walk briskly  for 45 minutes without tiring. Your fourth week begins with a moderate walk of 45 minutes, but after that it is fitness walking all  the way to the end of your 30 Day Walkfit programme.

Depending on your starting weight, you will be burning up to around 300 calories each time you walk and your increased metabolic rate will be helping to burn up another few hundred calories when you have finished walking.

Well – that’s it! You will already know that walking works wonders for fitness and weight loss and after 30 days you should have the motivation to keep this up for the rest of your life.