 |
| Confuscius was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher |
I love to walk. I usually go out for 40-45 minutes 5-6 days a week. I combine the Confuscius mindless wandering idea with traditional aerobic walking. Before I begin my walk I take a moment to look, really look, around me. I notice the sky, the sun or moon, the grass, the sounds, the air. Right now in Baltimore the air smells like the promise of spring. I take a few slow deep breaths while I focus on the beauty around me. While I walk I maintain this focus.
It never fails that I discover surprises along the way - a beautiful little flower, a funny bumper sticker, Mozart blasting out of someone's open window, owls hooting, pink clouds streaking across the sky, the last star disappearing into daytime.
I exercise my brain while I'm walking - I memorize telephone pole numbers (did you know they have numbers?), license plate numbers.
Sometimes I listen to Cat Stevens or America or Sting or Janis Joplin on my ipod. And sometimes I listen to some fabulous chanting by David Newman or just drumming.
I usually take the same ole routes but......my son-in-law came over yesterday to run in our neighborhood and showed me the coolest free app called iMapMyrun. I just this very minute loaded it into my phone. Where ever you are - Venice, Wales, Amsterdam or Towson, you will see your route, how far you went and how long it took. You can view your last 10 workouts, put in goals, see how many calories you have burned, plug in the calories you are consuming and a ton of other things. I'm really looking forward to using it.
There's such great info on the internet. If you want to know more about walking check out
www.thewalkingsite.com
It's important to maintain flexibility. I copied these rules from the above site-
Important rules for stretching:
1) Never stretch cold muscles. The best time to stretch is after your walk. If you have problem areas they can be stretched prior to your walk, but only do this after you have warmed up.
2) Do not bounce. Go into a stretch slowly and hold gently. Stretch to the point of feeling a gentle pull, but never to the point of pain
3) Hold each stretch for 30 to 40 seconds. If you have problems with a particular area stretch that area twice. (hold for 30-40 seconds release, then stretch again.)
There are so many stretches it is impossible to cover them all. Be sure to stretch all the major muscle groups, and put extra focus on any areas you have trouble with. Find a few recommended stretches below:
Calf Stretch -- Stand on your toes on a step or curb. Hold on to something for balance. Remove your left foot and slowly allow the right heel to move down. Hold this position. Be sure to keep you body upright and straight. Release and repeat on the other side.
Hamstring and Lower Back -- Slowly bend forward from your waist with your knees slightly bent. Reach for the floor and hold. Only bend as far as comfortable. Another option (last picture on the first row below), stretch one leg at a time. The picture shows start position, bend over from the groin and you will feel the stretch in the back of your leg.
Quadriceps Stretch -- Standing up, hold on to a stationary object. Bend your right knee, bringing your foot toward your buttocks. Keeping your left knee slightly bent, grasp your right ankle with the opposite hand. Slowly pull your leg up and back, bringing your foot at high as comfortable. Repeat with other leg.To protect your knee... think of pulling the quads back rather than pulling the foot toward your buttocks. (Picture - second row, first one.)
 |
| Everyday stretches |
The Karvonen method is considered to be the gold standard for calculating a target exercise heart rate. Unlike other methods of calculating target heart rates, the Karvonen method takes into account the difference between your theoretical maximum heart rate and your resting heart rate. This difference has been dubbed the heart rate reserve. As your fitness improves, your resting heart rate will change, so you should recalculate your target heart rate--using a newly calculated resting heart rate--every month when using the Karvonen method.
Step 1
Take your resting heart rate just before getting out of bed in the morning. Place a timepiece with a second hand or counter beside the bed the evening before so that, just before you get up, you can count your radial (wrist) pulse for a full minute. The resulting number is your resting heart rate.
Step 2
Calculate your maximum heart rate by multiplying your age times 0.7, then subtracting the result from 208. So if you are 50 years old, your maximum heart rate would be 208 - 0.7(50), or 173. If you've had an exercise stress test done recently, you can substitute the maximum heart rate from that test for this calculation.
Step 3
Subtract your resting heart rate from the maximum heart rate you just calculated. To continue our example, if our 50 year old has a resting heart rate of 70, we have arrived at 173 (his calculated maximum heart rate) minus 70, which equals 103. This is known as the heart rate reserve.
Step 4
Multiply your heart rate reserve by the desired exercise intensity. For beginners or those with a low fitness level this would typically be 50 to 60 percent; a subject with average fitness might multiply it by 60 to 70 percent; and those with a high level of fitness would multiply it by 70 to 80 percent. To continue our example, if our subject is just starting out he might multiply his heart rate reserve by 55 percent. Therefore, multiply 103 x .55 = 56.65.
Step 5
Add the resting heart rate to the figure arrived at in Step 4 to get your target heart rate, according to the Karvonen method. To conclude our current example, we have 56.65 + 70 = 126.65. Round to the nearest figure--so, our hypothetical subject has a target exercise heart rate of 127.
If you'd like me to calculate your THR, email me your age and "true" resting heart rate and I'd be glad to do it for you.
If you normally don't walk outside, try some "mindless wandering". It's great to soak up some rays and just be outdoors in nature.
再见 or Zàijiàn
Goodbye in Chinese!
Donna Rae
No comments:
Post a Comment