Level 2 – 7 Day Walkout

The 7 Day Walkout is designed to ease you gently into brisk, aerobic walking and to prepare you for the aerobic exertion provided by the 30 Day Walkout. The 7 Day Walkout assumes that you can walk at a moderate pace of around 2.5 – 3 miles per hour for 10 minutes without tiring or getting out of breath – the goal for the 10 Minute Walkout.

So let’s step it up a gear! Over 7 days you are going to gradually increase your walking time from 10 minutes at a moderate pace (2.5 – 3 miles per hour) up to 20 minutes brisk, aerobic walking (3.5 – 4 miles per hour) at the end of the week. You can follow the lead of the 10 Minute Walkout and just walk out of your own front door along a familiar route and back or you may want to schedule walks for different times of the day – morning, lunchtime or evening walks. Or take a friend with you, a partner, a member of the family or a work colleague – anyone who will help keep you interested and motivated. At this stage you are trying to build a long term exercise habit so you can do with all the help you can get.

On the first two days of your 7 Day Walkout, walk at a moderate pace for a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 15 minutes each day, building up so that by Day 3 you can step up the pace a little and try a brisker walk for 15 minutes.

What is a brisk pace?

A brisk pace at this level is a pace which is a little faster and needs a little more exertion than your normal walking pace, let’s say walking quickly to catch a bus. We are not going into specific walking speeds at this stage – that can come later. This is your own personal plan so you can pace yourself and decide on a speed that feels comfortable and that doesn’t tire you.

If you’re walking with a partner take the Talk Test – if you can’t hold a conversation without getting out of breath then you’re going too fast. So slow down a little to a pace which is more comfortable. The Talk Test is a good guide at any walking pace, from a moderate to a brisk, aerobic pace and it should ensure that you never over exert and injure yourself.

On Day 4 continue at a moderate to brisk pace but increase the length of your walk to 15-20 minutes. On Day 5 take a rest. Rest and recovery are an essential part of any exercise programme. Then on Day 6 walk briskly for 15-20 minutes. Continue at your new pace for Day 7, walking for 20 minutes. During your walk, visualise the next 30 days ahead when you are going to be fitter, slimmer and healthier than you have been for a long time.

Well, that’s it! Your 7 Day Walkout will hopefully have given you a new perspective, a new sense of purpose and a desire to succeed where previously you have failed. Part of the magic of walking is that the world really does look, smell and feel a different place at 3-4 miles an hour. Once you get moving and into a routine, just look around you – you might be amazed at what you have been missing. We all do a lot of looking. We look at televisions, videos and computer screens. We look through telescopes and lens and we travel abroad to sightsee and to look. And yet – we seem to see less and less and we are often blinkered to what is going on around us on our own doorstep. So step outside, look around you, indulge your senses and just keep walking! But before you step into your 30 Day Walkout let’s discuss a few ground rules which will help you along the way. Check out Warming Up and Cooling Down.