Walk your way to fitness - weeks 9 to 16

Join in with our great walking plan to tone up and slim down – weeks 9 to 16

The second part of Joanna Hall's programme - weeks 9 to 16 - is suitable for all walkers - follow the instructions for either pedometer or non-pedometer wearers. 

 

Stay motivated

Happiness coach Alexandra Watson has been working with the walkers to help them stay on top of the programme. ‘Everyone has a point when they reach a plateau and sticking with the exercise becomes a big issue,' she says. Here are her tips for when your enthusiasm starts to flag:

Remember why you started Go back to your original reasons for doing the programme. Write them out several times and stick them up around the house so you are constantly reminded of them.

 

Begin again with the end in mind See this phase as a fresh start and visualise how you will look and feel by the end of the programme.

 

When you have a bad day, end it there You've only fallen off the wagon temporarily, so don't blow the whole thing: get back on. After several months, you know the peaks and troughs - accept that down days happen and that things will improve.

 

Set yourself ‘mini-goals' If working towards your overall target seems too difficult, set yourself smaller, more achievable goals.

 

Get the emotional/practical support you need You probably had a lot of support from friends and family at the beginning, but it may be waning now. Regroup and reinforce your support system so you have time to walk - and people encouraging you to do it.

 

Acknowledge your achievements and reward yourself Treat yourself to a massage, manicure or a night out with friends. Look back at where you were two months ago and you'll see how far you've come.

 

Find the joy in what you are doing Think of the people you've met while walking, the views you enjoy and the feeling of satisfaction when you get home after an invigorating session.

 

Remove the energy drainers Tackle poor eating habits, lack of sleep and negative feelings that sap your enjoyment and motivation.

 

Inspire others Become a teacher and get other people out walking with you - enthusiasm can be infectious.

 
For more ways to stay motivated, visit www.AlexandraWatson.com

 

WEEK 9 

Keep the routine

Pedometer wearers (P) Walk your baseline number of steps from week three of the first programme every day.
Non Pedometer wearers (NP) Walk an extra 15 minutes on top of your normal daily activity on five days.

 

WEEK 10

Build speed

Add a 30-minute optimum walking pace (OWP) walk on three days. On the other days:

P Walk your baseline number of steps.

NP Walk an extra 15 minutes on top of your normal daily activity.

 

WEEK 11

Step it up

P Aim to walk 3,000 steps, three times a day - once in each of the following time zones throughout the day:

7am-11am; 11am-3pm; 3pm-7pm.

NP Walk an extra 15 minutes in each of the time zones above, on top of your daily activity.
● If you walk more than the 3,000 steps/15 minutes in a session, that's okay - the aim is to spread your steps and build up your level of activity throughout the day.

 

WEEK 12

Tone your tummy

P Walk at least 9,000 steps.
NP Walk 25 minutes each day.

●Begin to include some ‘ab walking': while standing still, stand up straight and pull in your abdominals. Don't hold your breath, expand your ribs or hunch your shoulders. Hold this posture for 10 seconds, breathing smoothly throughout. Then relax part of the way and maintain this partial contraction for 10 seconds. Repeat three or four times. When walking, hold the contraction for 10-12 strides and the partial relaxation for 10-12 strides, maintaining a good posture. 

 

WEEK 13

Keep it up

P Walk 9,000 steps each day.

NP Aim for 25 minutes' continuous walking.

●Include some ab walking each day, repeating 10 sets of the ab contraction/relaxation sequence. Remember your technique and try not to hold your breath. This takes concentration, so avoid chatting with friends if you're walking in a group.

 

WEEK 14

Introduce some hills

P Walk 10,000 steps each day. NP Aim for at least 30 minutes' continuous walking.

●Explore routes with different lengths and gradients of hills - they help improve your fitness, up the intensity of your workouts and work to tone hips and buttocks. When walking up slopes, you need to lead with the heel, but keep the spine tall and the abs slightly contracted - your experience in ab walking will help with this.

 

WEEK 15

Firm your bottom

P Walk 10,000 steps each day. NP Aim for at least 30 minutes' continuous walking.

●As part of your walk, select a slope that you feel stretched to walk up at your OWP and go up and down it four to six times. On the downhill walk, focus on bending your knees, keeping your abs pulled in and your pelvis stable. Use this downhill walk as a recovery - you shouldn't need to stop between each hill climb. Aim for a continuous-paced walk.

 

WEEK 16

Consolidation

P Walk 10,000 steps each day. NP Aim for at least 30 minutes' continuous walking.

●Include both your ab walking exercises and hill walking. Try to add one more hill climb this week and complete your ab walking exercises on your downhill recovery walk.

 

Click here for the introduction to the walking plan - read before you start

Click here for weeks 1 to 8 of the walking plan!

Click here for weeks 17 to 24 of the walking plan!

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