Go For a Walk... like right now!
Get Walking.
If you follow any of my social media, you probably knew this was coming. I love walking. I always have, and I spent plenty of my summers during school walking (with a side of planting trees). Walking is the best. Plain and simple. It’s easy, but you can make it difficult if you want. It’s low intensity, but you can get a sweat on pretty quick if you try. It’s good for your bone density, it’s good for your heart, and most importantly it’s good for your brain.
If you don’t have equipment at home to work out, you can still walk.
Throw on a sweater, some comfy pants and a pair of sneakers or boots and get your butt out the door and stroll around the neighbourhood. Simple as that. Depending on the day, I’ll listen to a podcast or music or the birds outside. Even better, if you have a dog take them with you. Even if you have a cat, bring them, we won’t judge.
Leaving a pair of sneakers, a sweater, a windbreaker and some headphones beside the door makes it much easier to overcome the hurdle of getting moving. Try and create as little resistance as possible between the moment the thought of walking enters your mind and the time it takes to get out the door. By removing any potential physical or mental barriers, you can be out the door and walking before you even have time to reconsider or postpone the plan.
Start slow.
No reason to hurt yourself or make yourself miserable. Remember, this is for your health. Our goal with this is to just get moving.
I like to step out the door with no real plan of where I’m going, walk until I want to go home, then walk a bit more because I didn’t make a route in order to actually get home.
Go off-roading with your walk. There are no rules here.
I know that strategy would drive some people insane, so if you’re a big planner, take a minute, hop on Google maps and come up with a route. (There are a ton of beautiful places to explore in Ottawa and Gatineau!)
If you haven’t been exercising much lately, start with 15 minutes. See how that feels. You can always do more.
I think the sweet spot is about 45-60 minutes at a comfortable pace, depending on the day (and weather).
To determine a comfortable pace you can use a heart rate monitor and aim for HR = 180 - (Your Age) +/- 20bpm, or simply use the Talk Test.
The Talk Test indicates when you’re working at a good level for your health without pushing too hard. You should be able to hold a conversation, but you won’t be singing any songs.
I’m pretty tired. Think I’ll go home now.
Track progress if you’d like. Or don’t.
There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Don’t let your exercise and movement stress you out.
If you love tracking things and seeing progress and setting goals, go for it. Keep a walking log by recording your attitude before, during, and after the walk, recording your distances and timing, and finding your pace for each walk.
If you prefer to simply take your mind off things, just walk. Go until you don’t want to and then go home.
Everyone is different, and there’s nothing wrong with just needing a break and getting out and moving for the sake of moving. We’ll all have days when the hardest thing to do is simply getting our butt out the door. Usually, I find, once I start moving, I feel much better and often walk for longer than anticipated.
Reach out if you need a hand or have questions
If an injury is getting in the way of how you like to move, shoot me a message. I’m happy to offer a free consultation and we can determine if seeing a professional is the right step forward or if it’s something you can manage on your own.
