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The Walkvest Weighted Vest With Workout CDs Gets People Merrily Walking and Getting Fit
Walking Is Enough: done right, walking can be the most effective way to: enhance your level of fitness, lose weight, and stay fit for the long haul.
By: Debbie Rocker |
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Product Review: Walkvest
Walking is the "no excuse" exercise - just about anyone - at any age and any fitness level - can do it. It requires no equipment or specific location. And it's free!
Walking is especially perfect for the beginner. It is not at all intimidating and can be done with or without others.
Pick a Goal, Get Some Support, and Get Going
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I encourage men and women to pick a goal (and I encourage trainers to help their clients do this) - an easily obtainable goal, whether it's walking 10 minutes a day 4 days a week, or 35 minutes a day 6 days a week - depending on the students' level of fitness.
Then, obtain support, whether hiring a personal trainer, asking a friend to join, enlisting an ipod full of inspirational music, following an audio/video walking program, or joining a group - get support.
Walking - done efficiently is definitely enough to promote fitness and health - I recommend at least 4 days a week for rapid physical change.
While many of my walkers add other exercises, like yoga and swimming, walking continues to be the foundation of their (and my) fitness program.
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Just plain walking is a fabulous way to lose weight and get more fit -- and it's free!
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Because walking is both weight bearing and cardiovascular it provides us with two of the most important physical elements that help keep our bodies' fit. And there are fantastic and easy ways to increase efficiency, enhance effectiveness, and help keep walking for fitness beneficial and result oriented.
Adding Weight Increase Intensity
Adding weight (or resistance) to walking helps you burn more calories in every walking session, as well as build cardiovascular strength, enhance muscle tone, and build bone density.
A device like Walkvest holds from 2 to 16 lbs. evenly distributed around the mid torso for safety and balance. It has a core-conditioning belt, which trains you to hold your abs in, supports your low back, and promotes good posture, and there is a pocket on the upper back of the vest that holds a CD player or iPod for music and motivational coaching. It's comfortable, washable, easy to use, and attractive to wear.
With walking, as with any exercise, our bodies will adapt to our workouts, so varying the weight (or resistance) is important if you want to keep getting more from your workouts, without doing more. The challenge, and the key, to truly efficient training, is variation and - - well - - my next point - motivation!
The Importance of Motivation
I believe that the most important element to anyone's fitness training success is motivation. For example, the Walkvest comes with "Walkout" CDs, which are walking workouts, set to music, with professional coaching, on CD. They give walkers the guidance and support that keeps them "on the road" and working consistently, effectively and safely.
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Walking with a coach can be a big help, even if that coach in in your ear with a CD or iPod.
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A coach (even on CD) will make all the difference in your training - especially in the beginning. And let's face it - results are key, and the way to get the best results is to follow a professionally designed walking program.
And we know all too well that losing weight - as you will do when you start your walking program - is not enough to keep you committed to your training.
We know that by the millions of people who lose weight, and then gain it back again year after year. If losing weight were enough, then everyone who had lost weight would continue with their fitness plans and keep the weight off - right?
But it doesn't work that way. Results are important - but obviously, not enough to sustain commitment. That is why I recommend effective training tools like the weighted Walkvest for rapid physical change, but more importantly, the motivational coaching on CD is key to consistency and ongoing progress.
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It provides you with that hard to define and illusive element - the motivation, encouragement and support - which helps you evolve, rather than stagnate, thrive, rather than just survive in your workouts, and stay committed to your training day after day, and year after year.
Happy trails -
Debbie Rocker
About Debbie Rocker
Debbie Rocker is the inventor of Walkvest. She is a world record holder in cycling, is an ACE certified fitness expert, and personal trainer for thousands of individuals, including health and medical professionals, and some of Hollywood's best-known celebrities. She, along with ultra-endurance cyclist Johnny G, is also one of the original developers of Spinning, having operated the company and establishing Spinning gyms in Los Angeles and New York.
Rocker holds a point-to-point world record in women's tandem cross country cycling, riding from Huntington Beach, California to Atlantic City, New Jersey in 12 days.
To help people get maximum benefit from the streets without the pounding on the joints caused by running, Rocker designed the Walkvest, an adjustable weighted vest, that is ergonomically safe, comfortable, and attractive to wear. www.walkvest.com
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