Take one year to change your life - forever!
WORKING OUT HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER
All that’s needed to get fit is a pair of walking shoes and a copy of Mark Fenton’s invaluable handbook. In this new and completely revised edition, Fenton speaks to modern concerns, such as preventing and controlling serious health conditions, motivating families to walk together, finding the best walking spots nationwide, and using new technology to get fit faster and more safely.
Much more than a “how-to” exercise book, The Complete Guide to Walking is an interactive and inspirational resource that can make the difference for millions of Americans who struggle with weight loss, health and dietary concerns, stress, and chronic fatigue. The author offers dozens of realistic solutions to help you overcome your individual barriers to regular daily activity. As a coach of beginners and world-class athletes alike, Fenton promises that he can transform virtually anyone from couch potato to athlete in less than one year with this straightforward, motivational, and enjoyable prescription to a healthier life.

Mark Fenton

Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press

Globe Pequot Press, The

UNKNO

United States, United States of America

New and rev, Guilford, Conn, c2008

Revised edition, April 1, 2008

Revised, PS, 2008

obscured text on front cover.

xiv, 258 p. : 26 cm
A guide to walking presents a diet and exercise plan, to improve overall health, lose weight, build endurance and speed, and become fit
Previous ed. published as: Walk it off! Pleasantville, N.Y. : Reader's Digest, 2002
"A 52-week plan for increased energy and a longer, healthier life"--Cover
"Resources" (p. 238-250) and index
Introduction -- pt. I. For the health of it : building a daily habit -- 1. Don't I already know how to do this? -- Trust walking -- Quiz I. Kick off your walking -- Do I need special shoes? -- Anatomy of your first walk -- Focus on your walking time -- Go slow-fast-slow -- Five walking warm-up moves -- 2. Why walking must be the answer -- George Carlin and the Surgeon General -- What is walking good for? -- Heart health -- Preventing osteoporosis -- Managing diabetes -- A week in the life : Carol Thompson, walking away from diabetes -- Weighty matters -- Cancer count -- Emotional well-being -- Ditch the scale -- Record your metabolic fitness -- Get moving every day -- Begin at the base -- The activity pyramid -- Is 30 minutes a day enough? -- Walking program. Weeks 1 to 8 -- 3. Making it seem easy -- It's all about motivation -- Bite off less than you can chew -- A week in the life : Mel Smagorinsky, a walker before it was cool -- Take your time adding time -- Don't let a stumble become a fall -- Keep it fun -- Quiz II. Match your style -- The tricks of the trade, from flexible to structured -- Count steps--using a pedometer -- Substitute active for inactive time -- Break it up -- Spread the word -- Map out opportunities -- Log it -- Lock it in -- Join the team -- Set a goal -- The gift that keeps giving -- 4. Building a body for walking -- Is walking enough? -- A simple stretching routine -- Four-minute after-walking stretch routine -- Building core strength -- Three-move core strength routine -- Walking program. Weeks 9 to 16 -- 5. Gearing up to get walking -- You've got the gear to go -- The bottom layer : closest to your skin -- The middle layer : shirts and pants -- The outer layer -- How about a hat? -- Gloves -- Socks -- Walking with children -- Safety tips for walking with children -- Front carriers : when they're small -- All-terrain strollers : worth the price -- Backpacks : big enough to take it all in -- Gear for indoors : the treadmill option -- Trying a treadmill -- Treadmill workout ideas : whatever it takes -- Great treadmill workouts in 30 minutes or less -- Selecting a treadmill --
pt. II. Walking for weight loss : cranking up the metabolism and the miles -- 6.Weight loss : the great American obsession -- Quiz III. Setting your sights on something -- Diane and Edna : a weight-loss story -- Diet and exercise are the key -- Why weight matters -- The bathroom-sink theory (and the first law of thermodynamics) -- Storing extra energy -- Is the sink too simple? -- Are you fat-savvy? -- 1) Is burning fat the key to weight loss? -- 2) Does running always bum a lot more calories than walking? -- 3) Does muscle turn to fat when you stop exercising? -- 4) If you're active enough, can you eat anything? -- 5) Does a high-protein diet make you bum more fat and lose weight? -- 7. Making food work for you -- Five rules for healthier eating -- 1) Drink more water all the time -- 2) Eat lots more fruits and vegetables -- 3) Search out whole grains and fiber -- 4) Eat fewer bad fats and more good ones -- 5) Get more functional foods in your diet -- Walking program. Weeks 17 to 24 -- 8. Burn more calories : longer, stronger, and faster -- Moving up the pyramid -- A Week in the Life : Kristen Trebeche, the ultimate foot commuter -- Shorter and faster versus longer and slower -- The secret weapon : picking up the pace -- Walking faster : more calories, less time -- Quick steps are the key -- Figure out how fast you walk -- Figure out how many calories you burn -- 9. Going Longer : on the trail of weight loss -- Let your walks take you there -- Prepping your body for off-road -- Walk longer a bit at a time -- Treadmill workouts for the trail -- Two exercises to protect your knees and ankles -- Gearing up to go on the trail -- Layering it on -- Walking program. Weeks 25 to 32 -- 10. Getting stronger -- Weight lifting for men and women -- Weights work at any age -- A better build in 20 minutes a day -- Upper-body routine -- Lower-body routine -- Toys to boost the burn? -- Hand weights -- Poling to fitness : Nordic walking -- Weight vests -- My verdict on walking toys -- 11. Going faster : shoes matter -- Faster feet need faster footwear -- Why not a running shoe? -- The twist 'em, bend 'em, poke 'em shoe tests -- Is it the same for hiking boots? --
pt. III. Getting fit : building speed and strength -- 12.Finding the athlete within -- What the experts recommend -- Why seek variety, too? -- You can have it all -- Breathing hard is good for you -- Check your fitness to start -- Quiz IV. At-home fitness quiz -- Subjective questions -- Fitness tests -- 13. Technique for building speed -- It still starts with posture -- Walk as tall as you can -- As fast as your feet can go -- Fast arms make fast feet -- Pushing off for power -- Improving technique on the treadmill -- Five common technique errors and how to fix them -- Error 1. Looking for spare change -- Error 2. Goose-stepping -- Error 3. Chicken wings -- Error 4. Shelf-butt -- Error 5. Boxing -- A week in the Life : Laney Hixon, preaching what she practices -- Walking program. Weeks 33 to 40 -- 14. Workouts to build your speed -- Making haste patiently -- Walking efficiently -- Intervals : faster in little bits -- Got an hour? Get in shape -- Your heart doesn't lie -- Using a heart-rate monitor -- Picking a monitor -- My verdict on heart-rate monitors -- 15. Total fitness : weights and cross-training -- Building a harder body -- Lift right (then left) -- The total-body routine -- Building total fitness -- Endurance -- Speed -- Strength -- Flexibility -- Balance and coordination -- Pick your cross-training -- Have fun with cross-training -- A week in the life : Amy Dawson, Karen McCann, and Kimberly Kent, rookie marathoners -- Walking program. Weeks 41 to 48 -- 16. The thrill of victory : walking in an event -- Even if you're not type-A -- Volksmarches -- Fund-raising walks -- Running races -- Racewalking events -- Multiday events -- Walking in your first event -- A week in the life : Joanne Dow, unexpected racewalker -- 17. Racewalking : your quickest route to fitness -- Have you ever seen an overweight racewalker? -- Two rules to walk -- It's easier than you think--and worth the effort -- You already know how to racewalk -- It's not a shimmy, it's drive -- Your best bet for an Olympic uniform --
pt. IV. Walking for a lifetime -- 18. Keeping an active body in working order -- Avoiding the most common injuries : it starts with prevention -- Dos -- Don'ts -- Taking care of the big three : shins, knees, and back -- An ounce (and 15 minutes) of prevention -- But what if you do get hurt? -- Ice works wonders -- An example of the full treatment : plantar fasciitis -- Walking program. Weeks 49 to 52 -- 19. Building your own program -- What next? -- Step 1. Buy a calendar or logbook -- Step 2. Pick a goal -- Step 3. Memorize these rules -- Step 4. Plan in weekly variety -- Step 5. Get walking, and log it -- Two special programs -- The 18-week marathon training program -- Eighteen months of walking through pregnancy -- 20. The real key to a life of health and well-being -- Don't walk for exercise -- Movement is in your nature--put it in your routine -- Creating a more walkable world -- Get them walking at home -- Get them walking at work -- Ten ways to spend your day off -- Resources -- Index to walk talks -- Index
Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-250) and indexes

Mark Fentons paperback has sold nearly 50,000 copies, and now contains up-to-date information on pedometers, fighting obesity, nordic walking, getting kids to walk, and building walkable communities, all in addition to his tried-and-true walking program. Fenton has designed an easy-to-maintain exercise program that will get people engaged in a lifetime of walking, illustrated with full-color photos throughout. Chapters are literally step-by-step and walking warm-up moves, emotional well-being, heart health, keeping it fun, logging your workouts, walking in intervals, walking attire, safety tips, walking on treadmills, walking vs. running, healthy eating, heart-rate monitors, building endurance and speed, race walking events, using hand weights, protecting your joints, and much more! Mark Fentons guide is as motivating as it is realistic, and promises to become an even bigger seller as consumers become ever more aware of the benefits of walking.

2023-06-28