Happy New Year and I hope you enjoyed the festive season.

I appreciate that you are being bombarded with diet and fitness advice everywhere you turn at the moment, so I promise to keep this brief.

As I have mentioned before it is important to find an aerobic activity that you enjoy. This could be dancing, cycling, rowing, swimming or jogging, but everyone, no matter what age or fitness level, will benefit by increasing the amount that they walk.

Walking is a great way to get some fresh air, have some time to yourself and look at the scenery, as well as burning calories and increasing your fitness. If you want to walk with someone else it is a good idea that they are roughly the same fitness level.

While walking you should feel warm but comfortable, breathe easily and feel that you could carry on at that speed for a while longer. Build up your stamina by gently increasing your speed, distance or adding a hill until you can walk three to five times every week for at least 30 minutes at a time.

If this sounds too complicated, another way to check how far you are walking is by wearing a Pedometer. This is a tiny gadget that you attach to your waistband and can be bought for under £10. The manufacturers state that taking 10,000 steps daily is ideal. Personally I feel that this is a great way to measure how active you are during a day and how much you are increasing your exercise. It can also be interesting for friends and family to use and then realise how active, or inactive, they are during their daily lives.

I have measured some walks as examples:

One lap of Leybourne Lakes 4,000 steps
Borough Green to Wrotham Village & back 5,800 steps
From Hythe to Sandgate & back, along the seawalk 8,000 steps
Eynsford to Lullingstone Visitor Centre & back 8,300 steps

Just find a few routes you particularly enjoy & that will easily fit into your day.

On a different subject I have decided to call my local classes Pilates for All. Anyone can join, it is then my responsibility to ensure that you are exercising to your own level and that you progress realistically.

Please note the earlier time for the Friday class and call or email me to put your name on the list, as numbers are limited.

As always, you are welcome to ask for advice or share your experiences with me. 

Best wishes

Jane Ardley
January 2009
JAFitness
Email: info@jafitness.co.uk

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