The Wide World of Walking Equipment

Snow, Ice, Sleet when will it end?  But perhaps a more important question is,   Will our concerns about walking safety end our walking routines?

Walking during the winter months can be difficult.  Many of us resort to walking indoors or employ walking equipment (treadmills, etc.) of some sort to maintain our exercise routines until spring arrives.  Right about now we are likely bored to death and yearning for the outdoors.  Just a bit of fresh air and a change of scenery.  However, walking in snow and ice can be a challenge, no question about it.  Slipping, sliding, falling and the potential for injury are real dangers and should give us a moment’s pause.  However, at the end of the day, we can’t let a bit of ice and snow or an overpowering sense of boredom erase all our time, hard work and effort.

There are steps we can take to minimize the likelihood of us ending our walk on our derriere or in traction.

• The first rule is don’t overdress.  Although you need to stay warm don’t overdo it.  Too much clothing, particularly if you’re not use to it, can negatively affect your balance and mobility making you more susceptible to a fall.  So dress warm by all means.  Follow proper layering guidelines but don’t dress like the Michelin Man.

• Wear walking sneakers with a gripping tread design, not smooth surfaced.  Be sure that your sneakers have adequate tread and not too worn to give you an adequate grip.  Most quality walking sneaker tread is designed to handle navigating slippery surfaces.  If you live in wintery climes and are uncertain about the traction you shoes provide, a good source of information is your local athletic shoe store.

• In the way of specifically designed walking equipment, there are traction cleats that you attach to your sneakers to give you extra grip and support.  Yaktrax is among the most popular.

• Slow down you walking pace a bit and keep an open eye well in front.  Plan your walk a few steps ahead to avoid potentially slippery areas.  If your walking route takes you on blacktop watch for “black ice”.  I was introduced to this phenomenon one frightening day when I found my car moving sideways down the highway at 60 miles per hour.

• Walk with your feet pointed outward slightly.  It helps with your balance.

• Walking on snow is easier than ice, so stay on snow whenever possible.  It will surely make the walk more difficult of but you’ll get the added benefit of an extraordinary cardio workout.

• Keep your hands free.   Lean forward slightly and keep your arms out away from your body a bit more than usual.  This should provide additional balance and a brace should you in fact slip and fall.

• Shorten up your pace.  Take short steps rather than your usual long stride.

• Sidewalks are a bit of a problem.  Walking is easier but if they are shoveled clean they will usually have periodic ice patches.  If they’ve been salted it probably best to use them.  If not, snow depth permitting, it would be best to walk besides them.  As with all things you’ll need to exercise a little judgment when deciding which way to go.

Hey no one said it was going to be easy.  Walking safety in snow and ice can be troublesome.  But if you need to “get out and about”, just do it.  No need to be overly concerned.  Simply take a few extra precautions.  The important thing is to keep going.   Spring will be here before you know it.

Technorati Tags: exercise walking, fitness walking, ice, snow, walking, Walking Equipment, walking sneakers, winter walking

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In keeping with the season and the strong interests shown in some of the recent blog posts, there are a couple of additional issues and tips about walking and exercise during the winter months we ought to review.  As mentioned in a number of posts, slacking off in winter is not the best thing for your waistline, your stamina or your motivation.  You’ve spent all spring, summer and fall working hard to stay fit.  Suddenly because of bad weather and the holiday feasting and stress, you’ve found yourself back where you started 8 months ago with all the accrued walking benefits lost.  All that hard work and effort has been for naught.  Talk about demotivating.  Here is some info and additional tips to help you stay active and engaged during this rough patch. 

Winter walking is Great

On the plus side, walking outdoors during cold weather is highly effective in working off the excesses of the holiday season. When the temperature drops your body works hard just to say warm.  Add that to the effects of exercising outdoors and you get a significant boost in calorie burn during your outdoor walking routine.  In addition we all know that getting outdoors for a walk helps “clear the head” and reduces the stress generated the by all the holiday preparations.

Winter Walking Needs Extra Care

That’s great, but remember you do need to do a bit of preplanning before you hit the road.  Be sure to warm up before you head out.  Pop your walking clothes in the clothes dryer to warm them up.  It might help take a bit of the chill out of the air.  Be sure to layer your clothing with a shirt of wicking material (polyester or silk) next to your skin. Your main heat releasing body parts are your head, feet and hands.  Be sure to keep them well covered.

Keep in mind that walking is a low intensity exercise and its’ benefits tend to be accumulative.  This means that you can get close to the same benefits from two 30 minutes sessions as with one that’s an hour long.  If it’s too cold, break your walking session in two.  By simply increasing your speed a bit, the caloric burn/fitness outcomes will be close.

It’s Just Too Cold

If the elements outdoors are just too much to bear, check around the neighborhood.  See what other fitness opportunities or programs may be available. In keeping with our general exercise theme, mall walking or stair climbing would be two excellent alternatives.  But you may want to broaden your horizons a bit. There may be yoga, aerobics, pilates or dance programs that you can join on a month to month basis to help get you through the winter doldrums.  Schools, Park Districts, and Recreation Centers often sponsor winter exercise programs, usually at little or no costs. 

Ice skating is a great alternative to walking.  A thirty minute session on skates burns the same number of calories as thirty minutes of stair climbing or an hour of walking. It’s a low impact exercise so your joints will thank you as well.

Finally, you may want to consider buying a piece or two of inexpensive home exercise equipment.  A jump rope or stability ball would be two items to consider. 

Winter weather can be frustrating even to the most motivated walker.   But when the cold weather and dark nights set in, don’t put your walking/exercise routine on ice.  Take a look at other programs are available locally.  Find those that interest you and mix and match to your heart’s content.   Beat the winter blahs.  If walking outdoors is out of the question find a substitute or two.  The important thing is to keep going and preseve all the walking benefits you’ve earned. 

If anyone has any additonal thoughts or tips about winter exercise drop me a line or leave a comment and share with everyone.

Technorati Tags: cold weather walking, exercise, exercise equipment, fitness, ice skating, mall walking, winter walking

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Before you know it old man winter will be literally breathing down our necks. Cold weather can be a real impediment to a walking routines. Who after all wants to get out of a nice warm bed and take a walk on a cold frigid morning. So staying reasonably warm and comfortable is important to staying active during the cold winter months. What sort of walking equipment should we be looking for to help keep us reasonably warm and comfortable? Each body part has different heat retention and moisture wicking requirements and needs to be addressed separately. So one by one we’ll give you the low down on the things you should consider when you gearing up for a winter walk.

Upper Torso

An key to keeping your upper body warm is to layer your clothing. It’s important not only to keep your upper body insulated from the cold but you’ll need to deal with moisture (sweat) issues as well. The best approach for the upper body is to use three layers of clothing: a moisture wicking layer, an insulation layer and a waterproof/windproof layer. The fist layer, the one next to your skin, should me made of materials that draws moisture away. With the exception of silk, synthetic materials perform the wicking function better than natural. Look for garments that contain a high percentage of acrylics or polypropylene. These materials have excellent wicking properties. There are trade names that you can look for: Themax, Thinsulate and Themion for examaple. Surprisingly to some I ‘m sure, cotton is not a good wicking material and should typically be avoided for this application. The next layer’s function is to keep the body heat where it belongs, next to you. Here natural fibers are king. Wool, fleece or down work best. Finally comes the waterproof/windproof layer. Here again look for synthetic materials, nylon being the most prevalent. Heavy duty “rubberized” rain gear is not recommended. The materiel is typically not “breathable” and will trap too much heat and moisture, making it difficult for the insulation and wicking layers to keep things in balance.

Legs

Two layers should be sufficient to keep the legs warm and dry. A wicking inner layer of the above mentioned synthetics materials plus a nylon outer shell will do the trick.

Head

A hat and or ear protecting headband is a “must have” to stay warm and dry. If you go the hat route it’s a good idea to get a ski cap style or one with a neck drawstring to keep it in place during a sudden gust of wind. If you chose a headband or ski cap, it should be of a high wicking materials composition . A neck scarf should also considered, depending on the configuration of your other clothing.

Gloves.

Mittens work well, keeping the fingers a bit warmer by keeping them in close proximity to one another. But my favorite glove design is layered. An inner glove of wool with an leather or nylon outer layer.

Socks:

Here again insulation and moisture control is important when selecting the proper winter walking sock. For the right combination of wicking and warming, select a sock of wool blended with an acrylic or polypropylene.

Shoes or Boots.

Waterproof walking sneakers or boots are an absolute necessity during the winter. Even if you boots or sneakers claim to be waterproof, it’s best to apply additional waterproofing protection to insure that they provide the best possible protection and are able to stand up to rough conditions present during winter. Care should be taken that the shoes or boots have adequate tread to insure proper traction.. Should your shoes get soaked, stuff them with paper or a cedar shoe trees and let them air dry. Never put them in the dryer or near any heat source,

Extras: 

A cheap thin plastic hooded rain poncho and a change of socks would be good extras to keep in your fanny pack during the winter months.

As with all things common sense should reign supreme. Match the layering to the temperature and weather conditions and don’t get overheated. If you get uncomfortable, remove a layer. The insulating one would be best. Just tie it around your waist. The walking equipment and clothing selected should not interfere with your walking motion and provide for a full range of arm and leg movement. They should be relatively light and loose fitting. No need to layer like Ralpy’s brother in the movie “Christmas Story”.

Proper layering is the key to keeping you reasonably dry and warm during your walk and that’s the key to keeping you active during the cold winter months. Take the time to match your walking equipment to the conditions on the road and it will be spring before you know it.

Technorati Tags: hiking, walking, warm clothing, winter, winter clothing, winter exercising, winter hiking, winter hiking clothing, winter walking

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