Walking programme for beginners

Press, 22 August 1979, Page 12

Walking programme for beginners

“. . . My only exercise has been housework, plus, for the past two years, I have taken up pottery as a hobby and use my left leg for kicking the wheel.”

This quote is from a letter from a Richmond housewife, whose eldest son is 31, and who describes, with alarm, the medical consequences, resulting from her years of persistent, housebound inactivity, and she says: ‘‘l sincerely hope you can suggest a programme for me.”

And a 70-year-old reader in Gayhurst Road, who describes another rather horrifying series of medical disasters, says: “I am very interested as I have suffered many of the results mentioned in the article of July 25 (quoting Dr Sailer Weston’s warnings on the dangers of leg amputations among sedentary persons) and would appreciate any assistance available.” And a New Brighton mother, who describes her “wondei.'ul experience” in completing a Y.W.C.A. fun run “from a background of no running whatsoever,” after she followed a “Runners’ Diary” programme for six weeks, has now asked for help for her father, aged 66, “who is anxious to get fit” and who has had “a series of blood clot troubles in his legs.” And a St Albans man, nearer 70 than 60, who says he is retired, is keen to start a training programme now that he has more time, but admits “I don’t know how to go about it” and asks if it is too late. Maybe it was their tough upbringing in the sorry depression of the 1930 s which accounts for the indomitable courage

which shows through many of the latest batch of similar pleas for help, pleas from older citizens who find themselves threatened with immobility.

The answer to this last inquiry, and to several similar ones, is that it is not too late at all: but, with the emphasised proviso, that the training programme be approached gradually. And the older the runner is the more gradual tne approach should be. Meantime the old saying: “you have to walk before you can run” can be a valuable guide for some senior citizens setting out on a training programme. And the Richmond reader (who trains her left leg on the pottery wheel) makes a good point when she says that a suggested programme for beginner runners offered on July 25 was too advanced for many later starters. She adds: “My walking capacity at present is low, yet, for my health’s sake, I can see how very necessary it is.” To help her, and many others in a similar situation, here are some hints on how to go about a gradual, progressive, introductory programme of walking. Regardless of whether you are training to walk for four minutes, or to improve a succession of sub-four-minute miles, the general principles of training are the same. Put in the briefest terms this can be stated: “Stress followed by rest.” Stress does not mean strain but rather adapting to a higher level of training demand, followed by a recovery period when your physical machinery, and your mind, prepares

to reach the next platform of improvement. If you were born a cat you could jump over a high wall with no training at all. Lions can toss an animal several times their own weight over their shoulder and run away with it.

But human beings have to train to improve their prowess. And the less your capability is used the less it becomes.

Here is a walking programme for you to experiment with. You can

try it out and adapt it to suit your needs and your progress. You will notice that there is a nice, easy start with a walk on alternate days for the first three days of the week followed by “the big one” on the fifth day. Throughout the programme the sixth and seventh days are rest days to enable you to grade up to the slightly more adventurous series of similar outings the next week. If there is any leg soreness take, say, four full days off to get right. Week 1: Day 1, walk 5 min; Day 3, walk 5 min; Day 5, walk 10 min; Day 6, rest; Day 7, rest Total for week, 20 min. Week 2: Day 1, walk 10 min; Day 3, walk 10 min; Day 5, walk 20 min; Day 6 and

7, rest. Total for week 40 min. Week 3: Day 1, walk 10 min; Day 3, walk 10 min; Day 5, walk 20 min. Total for week, 40 min. Week 4: Day 1, walk 15 min; Day 3, walk 15 min; Day 5, walk 30 min. Total for week, 60 min. Now that you have graded up to the worthwhile goal of walking an hour for tl.e week, you will notice there follows a slightly more testing programme: you can, if you feel inclined, train four days in the week as follows: Week 5: Day 1. walk 15 min; Day 2, walk 15 min; Day 3, day off; Day 5, walk 35 min. Total for week, 80 min. Week 6: Day 1, walk 20 min; Day 3, walk 20 min; Day 4, day off; Day 5, walk 60 min. Total for week, 100 min. Week 7: Day 1, walk 20 min; Day 2, walk 20 min; Day 3, rest; Day 4, walk 20 min; Day 5, walk 45 min. Total for week, 105 min. Week 8: Day 1, walk 25 min; Day 2, walk 25 min; Day 3, rest; Day 4, walk 20 min; Day 5, walk 50 min. Total for week, 120 min. Day 1, walk 25 min; Day 2, walk 25 min; Day 3, rest; Day 4, walk 25 min; Day 5, walk 55 min. Total for week, 130 min. Week 1?: Day 1, walk 30 min; Day 2. walk 30 min; Day 3, rest; Day 4, walk 30 min; Day 5, walk 60 min. Total for week, 150 ’min. You have now attained a significant goal of walking for a full hour. After this 10-week introductory training you may, if you wish, start on the gentle

running programme outlined in the diary of Auggust 8. But, regardless of whether you are walking or running, or both, it’s essential to get suitable training shoes and you can be helped in your choice of shoes by referring to the didary of August 15.

If this programme seems too simple, extend it. If you are not sure how your protress is going take your resting pulse rate the day after your training outing. If it is higher than the day before, you could do with a slightly longer recovery time.

If it is lower, that’s how it should be, and you are doing well. Walking or running, the slower the resting pulse, say 24 or 48 hours after a training outing, the more significant the proof that you are getting fitter — meaning stamina fitness for which you are aiming. If you wish to continue your walking training, plan the progressive weekly additions to your outings on the same principle as during your first 10 weeks of training. Once you can progress to walking, once a week, for three to four hours you are on the way to tackling a 26.2 mile marathon walk — the grand achievement, regardless of how long it takes you to complete it.

The Dean of Christchurch (the Very Rev.

Michael Underhill) believes that the annual service in the Cathedral for senior citizens on Sunday, at 2.30 p.m., can become a valuable encouragement for older persons to respond to the challenge of not only regaining but also improving on their youthful fitness.

The Dean has invited the president of the Veteran Athletes Association, Jim Macdonald, of the Olympic Club, and other fellow athletes.

Also invited on Sunday is Dr Shailer Weston, who is training to take part in the veteran section of the next Sedley Wells 26.2mile marathon. At the service will be representatives from 51 senior citizens clubs from throughout Canterbury, representatives and officials of the Aged People’s Welfare council, veteran bowlers and croquet players and representatives from elderly people’s homes.

The Dean says he believes that many attending the service will obtain inspiration from the exploits of many older athletes who have begun a training programme at 60 or older. Notable among these is Alex Redford who, at 66, scored one of the highest tallies at the recent New Zealand Army physical effi-ciency tests. He is now training for the 26.2-mile marathon at the world veteran Games to be held in Christchurch in January, 1981.