Well winter and the holidays are full force upon us. The weather is uninviting and we ate and drank way too much. Most certainly, the last thing on our mind is to get all bundled up and head out for our daily exercise walk. “I’ll do it tomorrow” the common refrain. The ultimate result of this calorie induced lethargy…REGRET. To avoid these post-holiday blues it’s important that we try and maintain some semblance of our normal exercise routines. But what can we do to generate the all the benefits of walking without having to face the prospect of frost bite and snow blindness? One option…get yourself to the nearest set of stairs.

Walking up and down a set of stairs is a very plausible and efficient alternative to your daily outdoor exercise routine. Like walking, you burn calories and tone your muscles, however, you’ll find it a bit more intense than your typical 3 mile, hour long exercise walk. In fact it’s twice as intense. 30 minutes on the stairs burns 300 calories, about as much as you would burn on your hour long walking excursion. It’s hard work, no question about it, but does have some advantages to recommend it.

What are the benefits of stair walking?

• As just mentioned , it’s something one can do during inclement weather, when it’s just too cold or too wet to handle you regular routine.

• Or it can be a fill-in regiment to help alleviate boredom that eventually affects most every exercise walker.

• You can do it anywhere and at any time; at home, office or store.

• Like walking, you don’t need any special training or equipment beyond what you use during your regular walking activities.

• The activity places stress on muscle groups different from those involved in a standard walking gait. The quadriceps (front of you thigh) and buttock are the primary beneficiary of stair walking. Note: It’s always a good idea to give a workout to muscle groups that aren’t heavily involved in your normal exercise routine. Doing this helps prevent injury, promotes better balance and improves overall performance.

• It can be done at work and throughout the day by simply taking the stairs rather than the elevator or exchanging your 15 minute coffee break for a quick exercise break.

• You only have to spend half as much time to get the same caloric reduction and other walking benefits as your typical walking routine.

There are however a couple of added issues that come into play.

• If walking in a public building make sure that the stairs are clean, safe, well lit and ventilated.

• Start slow. Because stair walking is more a more intense activity and works different muscle groups, even the most fit exercise walker will find the going rough at the start.

• Use the railing to help you maintain your balance

• Make sure that the doors to the stairs don’t automatically lock. In some building only doors on certain floors lock and others remain open. Know the pattern and save yourself some time and perhaps a touch of panic.

• Your knees take a real pounding when your going down stairs. So if you have knee problems walk up but take an elevator down.

Stair Walking Technique

Proper, safe stair climbing posture means leaning forward slightly from the hips with the back straight. At no time, should you be rounded in the lower back area. Look forward, glancing at the stairs from time to time but without looking down with your neck bent. Avoid over-straightening your knees as you climb up. Place your whole foot on the step. Avoid climbing with your heels hanging off the edge because you can injure your Achilles tendon.

Motivation

As you can imagine, boredom is much more of a issue with stair walking that outdoor walking. One way to alleviate it is by changing the pattern of you climb. Take two stairs a time for a short burst. Hop up the stairs. Use the hand rail to pull yourself up. Climb sideways or do leg crossovers. For many, keeping a log and setting goals helps keep them motivated. You can also fall back on my favorite piece of walking equipment, my MP3 player, to help wile away the time.

The winter months will soon be behind us and the outdoors will become more accessible for our walking routines but we need to get there without sacrificing our stamina and without carrying extra holiday pounds. Stair walking, when the weather is daunting, is an alternative that we can help us get through this difficult time and accrue all the typical walking benefits. Keep in mind, to burn the same amount of calories takes half the time with stair walking and, as we all know, time is another thing that is in short supply during the holidays. Resist the impulse to “sit the winter out”. Stay active and engaged with you exercise program. Give stair walking a try and you may find your stairway to heaven.

Technorati Tags: exercise, fitness, posture, safety, stair walking, walking, winter

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