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Walk fast. Walk very fast. Walk so fast you know you can’t walk any faster. Walk so fast you don’t know what is going to give out first, your heart or your lungs. Walk so fast you feel your head might pop off. But just for a very short time. Recover. Repeat.
This is what we do with you at WoW Power Walking. We have been doing this since we started training people to power walk because we know it works - works to increase your resting metabolic rate (burn more fat at rest!), works to decrease your resting heart rate (save some beats to live a longer life!), and works to lower blood pressure. These are key physiological indicators of cardiovascular fitness that usually predict a long life of high quality. And a life of high quality is what we are after.
The rallying cry to intensity is coming across loud and clear from research being done in the world’s exercise physiology labs. Interesting, these researchers are finding you don’t even have to know your heart rate while you are working out. We all know what it feels like to work hard and to work very hard. We perceive these efforts quite dramatically by shortness of breath and muscular pain. It’s about how you perceive the intensity of your effort. Pretty much everyone, barring a specific recommendation from a physician, can push themselves to their perception of maximum effort. The call for intense effort during a workout is in contrast to the concept put forward a few years ago suggesting that slow and steady was the key to fat burning. Well, there’s a catch. And it’s this: long and slow will use more fat per calorie burned, but intense will burn more calories. So, at intense levels of exercise, you will be burning more fat because you will be burning more calories even if the the percentage of fat per calorie is lower at high intensities.
So, embrace intensity and love your coach who pushes you to your limits!
Strength Tip :: Let’s try an explosive move for power. Lay something like a scarf or towel on the floor. Line yourself beside it. Keeping both feet close together jump sideways (laterally) over it. Before you jump, pull your belly button in toward your spine to stabilize the spine. Start with a small jump over and back until you can not do another. Take a short break until your legs and breathing have just recovered from this effort. Repeat. Now, we will do this move in the sagittal place (forward and back). Turn to face your scarf or towel and jump forward and back over it until you have fatigued. Recover from the fatigue and repeat the exercise. In 4-6 weeks, challenge yourself by executing these moves on single legs! For a video, check out the blog. (Please note: if getting airborne with both feet does not feel comfortable, you can lift one foot at a time into a little leap – also demonstrated on the video – just try to graduate to a two-foot jump by adding one at the end when you feel strong enough.)
Stretch tip :: Stand beside a railing. With your feet close to the base of the railing, place the foot on the outside crossed over the inside foot and leg. With your hand on the railing for support, extend that arm out and drop your hip and body away from the railing. Hold for 20 seconds. Breathe in and as you exhale, raise your outside arm up and close to the ear on the same side. Hold while breathing normally for 30 seconds. Take a breath in and return to start position as you exhale. Again, this exercise is posted on the blog for your convenience.
Races :: “tis the season and there are so many featuring walking divisions compared to even 5 years ago, it feels like a feast of walking challenges! Here is a list of local races for southern Ontario walkers: Midsummer Night’s Race on August 21, the Chocolate Race in Port Dalhousie on August 29, the Bayshore Race in Owen Sound on August 29, Oakville Half Marathon on Labour Day September 6, the KW Walking Classic on September 27 , the Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon on October 17, the Road to Hope Marathon in Hamilton and the Angus Glen half Marathon in Markham on November 7. All of these feature walking divisions!
Great race training tip → Set yourself up for success! If you are considering a full marathon for the first time – give yourself 8 months to a year for training. If your first half marathon is the goal, give yourself 4 to 6 months. We are happy to create specific training schedules that may include “test” races along the training journey.
Class update :: Fall is a time of purpose. Many of us find September to be as important as the New Year for setting new goals and creating schedules to achieve those goals. We are here to help you be the best walker you can be with all of our fall classes posted on the website. Our membership is proving to be a popular option for many people who are now attending two classes a week and seeing BIG results. You can get a good idea of all the classes available with a fall membership by going to our “Training Schedule” page on the website and clicking on “Membership Fall 2010 Weekly Class Schedule”.
Words to walk and live by . . .
"Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can”
– Lowell Thomas 1892 -1981 American writer, broadcaster, traveller
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View from the Back by Janey Cawley::
Raging against every cell of my primal being, I have willingly shared closet space with fist-sized spiders. My instincts were screaming, but so was my bladder. Several years ago, I wouldn't have thought that a smelly, spider-infested beach facility, floor awash with lake water, sand, and pungent, unthinkable fluids would be a premium site. Toilets may be present, but clean ones are rare. Running water is a magical bonus. No paper towels? No problem. I have shorts and I have socks. Very handy.
On long training walks, good hydration and efficient kidneys necessitate desperate stops at all manner of "water" closets. Power walkers are magnificent athletes and, with regard to relief, are magnificently creative. We see rest stops where others do not. Desperation begets creativity.
In urban settings, finding comfort during our walks should be simple. When driving, we see a coffee shop on every corner. When walking, the corners are far, far apart. Discovering one of those corners is blissful. Any guilt at not being a buying customer is overridden by the urge to scurry to the back room. Once relieved and out the door, it's easy to secretly promise to go back another time to buy a doughnut. I'm a law-abiding sort, but one time, my vision blurred by urgency, I may have missed a "No Trespassing" sign. Did I really climb over a barbed wire fence, thud into a ditch, only to land inches away from a bulldozer's scoop? There could have been mad scrambling up a hill of sand, and a dive into a portable toilet which was teetering at a mathematically impossible angle. I recall, after having my needs met, the difficulty of rolling up sweat-soaked, second-skin shorts whilst adopting a skate boarder's skills in staying upright. I have never ridden a skateboard, but I can say I have been bucked out of a perilous potty.
Summers are great. Walks in the wild afford many natural shelters including bushes, trees, and large rocks. Although there may be battles with burrs, pain of hidden thistles and knee-high mud baths amongst bull rushes, perils are minimal and sites abound. In winter, however, when the flora is bare and the dingiest of public washrooms are locked, ingenuity is key. It is a triumph to find a secluded spot. One December, in the pursuit of bushes, I boasted a personally-bestowed badge of honour when finding the perfect area in the middle of some hardy grasses. The path I was on was well travelled, but I was secure in knowing I was completely hidden. When I emerged any sense of victory disappeared quickly in the face of my giggling companions. I had been wearing my neon green ball cap.
Editor’s Note: perhaps camouflage hats are in order for the winter season! |
New class! Vera is reaching out to new parents in the High Park area with a Walk Your Butt Off Power Stroller class beginning mornings on September 14. Let your friends with wee ones know!
WATERSTATION FUN! We need some help to make the WoW Water Station at the Oakville Half Marathon the friendliest, the noisiest, and generally most raucous stop along the route. Let me know asap, if you can be there the morning of September 6 to help hydrate, fuel, and cheer on runners and walkers. There is something indescribably enriching about encouraging race participants. If you have never done it before, email me today to sign up! It is SO appreciated by all participants.
WoW Power Walking® coaches are
proud to wear New Balance shoes.
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