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Tips & Tricks

Find below some tips & tricks to keep you motivated and active throughout the year.

Getting Motivated

  • Walking is a beneficial, all-purpose activity that people at all levels of fitness can do
  • Encourage friends and family to walk with you and if possible make it a regular occurrence
  • Bring along a personal stereo or disc-man to keep you entertained
  • Walk inside if the weather is too hot (e.g. shopping centers, sheltered streets)
  • Set yourself some goals (short-term and long-term)
  • Keep a record of your steps and how many times a week you walk or do other activities
  • Register with us to get your very own online Step Log where you can keep your record and participate in challenges
  • Join a walking club in your community - check your local council website
  • Plan to participate in a fun walks such as ‘Terry Fox Run’ or ‘Mother-Daughter Walk’

Safety Tips

  • If you have been inactive for a while check with your doctor before beginning any activity
  • Listen to your body - if you feel pain, dizziness, nausea, or sick in any way - STOP. If the symptoms do not subside, consult your doctor
  • Ensure you do a proper warm up and cool down
  • Do some stretches
  • Drink small amounts of water before, during and after your walk, particularly in warm weather when you are sweating heavily
  • Walk with a friend of family member for pleasure and safety
  • Walk during the day if possible or on well lit streets
  • If there is no pathways, walk on the side of the road facing the traffic
  • Wear comfortable walking shoes
  • Wear reflective clothing at night

Staying Motivated

  • As the first 2-6 weeks are the most critical period to sticking with a physical activity program, plan to maintain your walking program for at least a month to give yourself a fair chance of "sticking with it"
  • Expect to notice favourable changes in about four to eight weeks
  • Keep reviewing your record of steps and other activities to see if you are improving
  • Walk with a friend or dog, and you will be encouraged to walk even on those days when you feel "lazy"
  • Vary your walking route, the setting you walk in, or your walking partner to add variety and interest
  • If you slip off the program, forgive yourself and begin again. Don't give up and avoid the all or none pitfall
  • Reward yourself. Each month, particularly for the first 6 months, reward yourself for sticking with your activity program goals
  • If you miss more then a week, resume your physical activity program at one-half to two-thirds of your normal level and build back up gradually
  • Walk during coffee breaks
  • Park further away from where your going and enjoy the walk to where you are going
  • Take a mental break - use your walking time to think about pleasant things. Avoid using the time to ponder family problems or bills. It is essential to feel good about what you are doing

Extra Tips

  • Physical activity at work. It is right in front of you. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk down the hall instead of using the phone or E-mail. Take a walk during a morning or afternoon break. Ask a work-mate to go with you
  • "What are you doing for lunch?" Pretty common question. Take advantage of these lunch time activity tips. It will bring a whole new meaning when you answer, "The usual." Take a walk around the block during part of your lunch hour. Pick some dining spots 10 to 15 minutes away and walk to and from lunch
  • Have you set a personal fitness or weight loss goal? If so, practice visualization to help yourself reach your goals. Athletes use this technique to help them perform better, and it works. If you want to lose weight, picture yourself at your goal weight. If you want to run faster, picture yourself running faster, or even winning a race! The mind is powerful when used in the right way!
  • Many things in life are out of your control - physical activity isn't one of those. Physical activity is something you control and do solely for yourself. Select activities you enjoy most - bike, hike, walk, run - anything you find interesting and entertaining. Do it with a friends, family or your man's best friend. Whatever you choose, be consistent so you develop the habit
  • Want to increase your endurance? Work first on increasing your time, then work on intensity. If you walk or run, push yourself only an extra 10% per week until you get to where you want to be mileage-wise. Then you can start to work on making those goal distances more intense, also at an increase of about 10% a week. This will best accomplish an increase in your endurance safely without overuse injury
  • Our skeletal muscles are responsible for more than 25% of our calorie use. Therefore, if you increase the amount of muscle you have through resistance training, you increase your metabolic rate. This basically means you will require more calories each day to function, so you can either eat more, or eat the same amount of calories as before to attempt weight loss
  • Be aware, however, that cardiovascular exercise is critical to achieve permanent weight loss, and a combination of both cardio and resistance training is ideal for maximum results
  • Over your adult life you will lose muscle gradually, unless you strength train. Without strength training you can expect a 5% reduction in your metabolic rate each decade of life
  • Don't deprive yourself of the foods you enjoy but eat them in moderation and savor every bite
  • Pedometer Tip: When you hop in the car open the cover. This will avoid counting those bumps throughout the journey and ensure that your step count is accurate
  • Each day focus on how good you feel about yourself and the steps you're taking to be more active. Remember progress can be measured in many ways - mood, sleep, self-esteem, weight loss, or energy. The longer you stick with a physical activity program, the more benefits you'll feel
  • If you're new to exercising, it's best to start slowly, increasing the intensity and length of your workout as you go. You will see noticeable improvement within a week or so. As your stamina improves, the activity will become easier, enjoy physical activity at a comfortable pace so it doesn't leave you exhausted
  • One way to monitor your pace and determine intensity level is the talk test: if it's difficult to speak, slow down; if talking is too easy, speed up
  • Why is it so hard to stick with an exercise program in the beginning? The simple truth is that when your body is used to something, it will resist change. If you are comfortable on the sofa and the phone rings, your body's inertia resists you getting up and going to answer it. Likewise, if you just finished a sporting game or vigorous activity you will have a difficult time falling asleep quickly
  • When you try to shock your body by doing two things it's not used to doing: exercising and eating right, it will resist your efforts. By fighting the inertia and making exercise a part of daily life, the norm will become "being active"!
  • We all have days where we don't feel like doing our physical activity. But before you decide to skip, think of how you will feel if you do the activity. Then, think of how you will feel if you DON'T do your activity. Choose the path that gives you the feeling you want! Same thing goes for deciding what to eat!
  • Concentrate on the immediate satisfaction you get from being active, while remembering some health benefits take longer to experience. For example, it takes 8-12 weeks to raise high density lipoprotein (HDL) "good cholesterol" levels and 10 weeks or more to lose 5 kilos. As you make progress, reward yourself with something personal, specific, and immediate; consider these ideas:  
    · Hand weights
    · Pulse rate monitor
    · New piece of sports equipment
    · Physical activity outfit
    · Sports sunglasses
  • If you have chosen walking as your primary form of activity and exercise, then you have made an excellent choice. With any form of activity, however, you will find that over time your body becomes accustomed to what it's doing, and it will actually burn less calories over time! Likewise, you will no longer see the rewarding improvements of your fitness level

    Therefore you will need to find ways to continually challenge your body. You can burn off more calories by increasing your speed, or by increasing your incline. To get the most bang for your activity time, increase the walking speed on flat terrain. The calorie burn of walking faster on flat terrain is significantly higher than if you were to just increase the incline (unless the incline is very steep!) Want the best of both worlds? Then add a little bit of both into your fitness regime