The Wide World of Walking Equipment

People generally have one of two responses to winter exercise:  “Forget It” and “No Way”.  Having to get all bundled up and braving cold and snowy weather often times overcomes “fighting the good fight” for health and fitness.  But taking a break from your exercise routine during cold weather can set you back more than you think.  The holidays, too many of us, means overeating and winter means more sedentary recreational activities.  These two combine place added stress on our waistline and our health.  Ultimately resulting weight gains that may take all of next summer reverse.  So it’s really important that we not pack away the walking equipment and keep committed to our standard exercise routines.

So what are the rules that govern walking in cold weather? 

Allow at least 10 minutes to warm up.  When it’s cold, your heart and muscles need a bit more time to get lose and ready for exercise.

While it’s important to dress warmly, using the layer technique, it’s equally important that we don’t overdo it.  Dressing too warmly could cause overheating making our walk that much more uncomfortable.  Dress for a temperature that is 20 degrees warmer than it actually is.   Your body heat  will make up the difference.  If you feel yourself overheating take off a layer and tie it around your waist. 

Don’t wear a waterproof outer layer, wear a water resistant one.  Waterproof gear is not porous and won’t allow your body heat to escape, increasing the possibility of overheating.

Remember to bring water with you and most importantly, drink it.  It’s more difficult to gauge our body’s hydration needs during cold weather.  Drink periodically even though you may not feel thirsty.

The walking equipment and gear you wear is critical.  Be sure your extremities are covered well.  When out in cold weather the body undertakes defensive measures, cutting off blood flow (and heat) to the body’s extremities, thereby shifting that heat to the body’s core.  The result is that there is a higher propensity for frostbite on your toes, ears, fingers, etc.  If your fingers or toes get numb while you’re out walking, don’t take any chances.  Get inside as quickly as possible and apply a moist heat to the affected area. 

Wear sun screen and a brimmed hat.  The presence of snow actually intensifies the negative impact of the sun.

If walking in minus degree weather cover your mouth to prevent frigid air from entering your lungs.

What about exercising when you’re not feeling 100%? This is the flu and cold season and at some point we are going to hit a patch when we’re under the weather.  Should we take it easy until we’re fully recovered?  Most physicians agree that if you have a head cold, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat or headache it’s OK to continue your exercise routine.  Exercise may actually provide some benefits by clearing the nasal passages and alleviate that stuffy nose.  However, if you are running a fever, have chest congestion, upset stomach or general achiness, it’s probably a good idea to take a break from your exercise routine until you’re feeling a bit better.  As with all hard and fast rules there are exceptions so listen to what your body is telling you and if it says take a break do so.

Remember, winter shouldn’t be an excuse to stop or slow down your walking exercise routine.  But you need to approach it sensibly.  Extra precautions are necessary to insure that you remain safe and healthy.  The first is, wear the proper walking equipment and gear.  Next, follow the common sense guidelines listed above and you should hit spring lean and fit.

Technorati Tags: cold weather exercise, walking, walking in cold weather, walking in winter

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Last week an organization called Transportation for America released a study entitled “Dangerous By Design” that measured how major cities compared with one another when it came to walking safety. They make the case that due to urban and suburban planning flaws may of our cities have become highly unsafe for pedestrian traffic.

Summary

Bicycling, walking and jogging have become increasingly popular as we’ve become aware of the dangers that surround a sedentary life style. As a consequence more and more people are forgoing their cars for short trips or have begun regular exercise routines. The result has been more crowded streets, roads and walkways. Over the last several decades, this trend has been at odds with the overriding concern of urban planners which has been to move as many cars through a congested area as quickly as possible. Which was in part achieved by the elimination or minimization of the number of sidewalks, crosswalks and traffic signals. At the same time because of our automobile centered culture, basic walking safety information and training, epically among the young, has fallen by the wayside. As reported in a previous walking safety blog post, the result of these trends is that over the last 15 years 76,000 Americans have lost their lives while walking.

Details

In an effort to establish a measure of exactly how walking safe a city was, the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership developed what it calls a Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI). The index was based upon the number of pedestrian fatalities relative to the amount of walking done by the local citizens. They compiled statistics for 2007-2008 time period in the 52 largest metropolitan areas and generated the following table ranked from wost to best

After analyzing the results it became clear that the most dangerous areas were predominately lower population density areas that place heavy emphasis on auto-oriented travel and in urban areas with a preponderance of high speed road ways . They then looked at state and local highway spending patterns and discovered that many of the worst areas were not spending available monies on walking safety infrastructure in proportion to the number trips local citizens make by foot or bicycle. This, in spite of a number of new regulations that were enacted to encouraged spending an safety related road features ie. sidewalks, crosswalks, speed humps and educational programs.

Action Needed

What’s the answer? The money is there, the regulations are there. What’s left? As with all things there is no one solution, no sliver bullet. Some suggestions. Increase public awareness of the problems and the solutions is one approach that should be encouraged. Applying pressure on the state and local planning authorities to insure that pedestrian needs receive due considered when budgets are reviewed and new projects developed. Finallywe need to reestablish walking safety education, especially in our schools.  Here is a sample of a successful effort

We all like to get out and about once in a while, whether it’s just a short trip to the store or part of a daily exercise routine. Traffic awareness is our first line of defense. But even the most alert of us are at a distinct disadvantage when our neighborhoods are not designed with walking safety in mind. Since exercise walkers spend more of their time outside it behooves us to take a leading role in making sure we and others are safe and secure.

Technorati Tags: PDI, Pedestrain safery, urban planning, walking

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Came across an interesting web site that may be of benefit to those of us who need a bit of motivation to add to our usual list of walking equipment and gear. It’s called Endomondo with the tag line “Free you Endorphins”. It’s a Danish web site that incorporates a number of interesting. features all designed to keep you active and motivated in your exercise routines. I guess you could almost call it the Facebook of exercise.

By signing up you join a virtual community of like minded individuals, all interested in exercise and fitness. While incorporating all forms of individual sports activity, this site should be of special interest to the walker since it integrates several different functional levels that will appeal to the occasional walker as well as to the highly dedicated. At the basic level Endomondo provides a walker with route planning and an exercise journal.. Using Google Earth, it enables you to manually create any number of walking routes with mileage automatically calculated. Something we discussed in a blog post a while back. Once the routes are established you can then keep track of your walks manually inputting the information on a handy online journal. Plugging in the walk time, it will calculate things like average speed and calories burned. Its’ community feature allows you to hook up with friends or acquaintances and follow each one’s exercise routines and results. You can issue one another challenges and/or create competitive teams. You can also access your friends records to find new walking routes or you can share your favorite walks with others.

This would be worthwhile by itself but Endomondo takes it a step further. They have a piece of software that you can download on to walking equipment such as a GPS enabled phone or GPS dedicated devise. By take the programed equipment with you on your walk all the basic exercise information can be directly inputted into your Endomondo record with things like route traveled, time, speed, calories burned, etc. automatically calculated. It will create a permanent route record and can be shared with friends or teams. Conversely, you can follow your friends and team members’ progress as they conduct their workouts.

Everyone loves a good challenge. Making a commitment to a friend, colleague or family member often times gives us that little bit extra dedication and motivation to get out and get that exercise walk in. The team aspect provides an added dimension. If you are a member of a walking club what better way to keep motivated than to challenge other clubs or separate sub-groups of club members. This team challenge feature would also be most useful in a work setting. Pitting departments or even competitors against one another for the title of “Most Fit”.

From any number of perspective it seems that the Endomondo web site can provide the walker with a number of features that will keep him/her motivated and engaged. It helps you set your goals and measure your performance. It helps you organize and plan your exercise activity. Finally it takes some of the isolation out of the walking activity and in the end keeps you in touch with others who share your enthusiasm. For these reasons I’d recommend that you add Endomondo to your list of critical walking equipment.

Technorati Tags: Endomondo, exercise, google earth, staying motivated, walking

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Who hasn’t got caught in the rain or snow or step into one puddle or another and ended up with a pair of soggy, smelly walking sneakers as a result. Here may be a product that will resolve the problem quickly and easily. .. Stuffitts

What are they?

Stuffitts are shoe inserts designed to address moisture and odor problems in walking sneakers. They feature two cedar-chip filled, shoe-shaped inserts connected by a removable leash. The outer cover is made from advanced wicking material. The fabric consists of two 2 distinct layers which enhance its’ ability to remove moisture from the surrounding shoe material. An inner bag contains highly absorbent cedar chips which traps and holds the moisture wicked from the shoe. The inner bag is inserted through a zippered heel in the outer cover. A configuration that enables the cedar bag to be removed enabling you to throw the wicking outer cover in the wash. Stuffitts are joined together by a 36” adjustable, detachable strap which can be connected or separated, making the sneakers easy to sling over a doorknob or place side-by-side under the bed.

How do they work?

Simply insert Stuffitts into your shoes over night. Stuffitts eradicate odor by absorbing moisture, the growth medium for the odor producing bacteria that give your sneakers that awful smell. Eliminating this moisture creates an inhospitable environment for these bacteria and they along with the smell disappear. While air drying a wet sneaker can take more than 24 hours, Stuffitts absorb nearly 100% of the wetness and order causing bacteria, doing most of the work in an hour or so. Stuffitts claim to be able to dry out your sneakers 25X faster than air drying. They come in four sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large and three colors : Black, Blue, and Red. The cedar inserts last six months before they need to be replaced.

Are they effective?

I undertook a broad internet search to see what the overall reaction to the product was from actual users. In general, the responses were extremely positive. Stuffitts appear to do what they are meant to do and do it quite well. So if you find yourself with walking sneakers that have need of a serious detoxification program you couldn’t do worst that stuff it with Stuffitts.
 

You can order them online at: www.stuffitts.com

Technorati Tags: foot odor, moisture removal, odor control, ordor removal, shoe odor, Stuffitts, wet shoes

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As winter approaches and the days get shorter and nights longer added attention needs to be paid to the clothing and equipment we wear. Not only should they be designed to keep us warm but they should also enhance walking safety by making us highly visible to traffic. Every wonder why road side workers wear florescent colored vest outlined with yellow or gray tape? It’s because it’s the best way to stay visible during the day and at night. The florescent material is ideal for daytime visibility while the yellow or gray reflective straps are critical at night. The day time sun’s ultraviolet rays react with florescent colors to make them appear to “glow”. At night, light from a source such as car headlights bounces off the reflective tape portions making them appear to “glow”.

Florescent Colored Material

Again florescent colors owe their increase visibility to the way they absorb and emit different kinds of light. Many different colors can be made fluorescent. The most popular are yellow and orange but red, pink and green can be used as well. In an industrial setting yellow and orange are most commonly found. Lifeboats have orange life jackets since this color shows up best against blue and gray water. Hunters use orange. Interestingly, some recommended that hunters wear pink, a color not found often in nature and as a result shows up well against autumn leaves. Good luck with that one. The color blue is not epically effective for fluorescent clothing. Its wavelength it is not good at emitting light and therefore the human eye is not good at detecting it. Florescent colors “glow” extremely well in bright sunshine and even work well on dull or rainy days and when daylight is fading. But fluorescent colors don’t show up well in the dark. To be seen by drivers at night you need clothing and/or equipment that incorporates materials that have reflective properties.

Reflective Materials

Reflective materials work at night by bouncing back the light toward its’ source. For reflective gear to work properly it needs to be dark and there must be a light source, car headlights for example. The best reflective materials are called ‘retro-reflective’ . They are designed to bounce most of the light back toward its source as opposed to some materials that reflect but do so in a diffuse manner. . Retro-Reflective materials can help drivers to see you three seconds sooner, which could be the difference between life or death. However reflective material are not epically effective during the day, at dusk or in inclement weather, unless of course it is fluorescent in color. Although reflective tape can sometimes glint in the sunlight, it really doesn’t show up properly until after dark.

There are two types of retro reflective materials. You may have seen silver gray bands. They are called glass bead tape. When light shines on them at night they shine a very bright white. The preferred reflective materials are made of special plastic vinyl with lots of tiny prism shapes sealed inside. These prisms bounce the light off one another and then straight back to the source. This material is called microprismatic retro-reflective tape. This tape is a bit expensive but is very long-lasting and can be made in many different colors and shapes and can even be made to generate a holographic effect.

Key Take Aways

The key take away here is that neither florescent nor reflective materials work all the time and in all conditions, therefore to maximize your visibility your equipment and clothing selections should incorporate elements of both. Avoid dark colors and select microprismatic reflective take whenever possible. When selecting your clothing and equipment it’s important to give high priority to walking safety issues. This is epically true this time of year when you’re more likely to be walking during dusk, in inclement weather or at night. Fashion and color coordination should not be an overriding concern…Remember Safety First.

Technorati Tags: florescent colors, reflective material, safety, walking, Walking Clothing, Walking Equipment, Walking Gear

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