Walking Off The Weight

The weight loss and general fitness business is a multi-billion dollar industry. There’s no shortage of companies ready to sell you every product, supplement, wonder drug and fitness kit available – all guaranteed to help you lose weight and get ripped within a short period of time. Most of this type of product is a waste of both your time and your money. Even so, there are some items of equipment that are well worth investing in if you want to shed a few pounds or just generally get in shape.

First of all, get yourself a comfortable pair of exercise shoes. You will need suitable footwear for almost every form of exercise that you may wish to perform – with the exception of swimming and some martial arts perhaps. For example, walking is a fantastic way to lose weight and get in shape. There are many health benefits in addition to weight loss and it’s perfect for anyone who hasn’t taken exercise for some time and who wishes to gradually ease themselves back into a regular exercise program.

However, if your shoes aren’t comfortable then you won’t be able to keep up your walking program. Be sure to buy the best, most comfortable shoes that you can. You can even take advantage of modern technology by using the latest design of fitness footwear which maximizes the efficiency of your walking workout by increasing the amount of work that your lower body muscles do whilst walking normally. Currently, Skechers Shape Ups, Reebok Easy Tones and Fit flops sandals are available on the market, all of these claim to be specially engineered to reduce impact stress and boost your workout’s efficiency.

Once you get into your walking routine, or possibly even progress to jogging or running, you will probably want to monitor your progress. A good pedometer in perfect for this. It will display your progress in terms of the distance covered, the total time taken, the number of steps taken or the number of calories burned. This should help to keep you motivated.

Be sure to select a high quality pedometer. Some very cheap ones are available, but it’s worth paying a few dollars more for a good quality device. Cheap pedometers can be extremely inaccurate. A good quality brand such as Tanita or an Omron pedometer will be more accurate and less likely to fail.

A heart rate monitor is also an excellent idea – although, when you’re just starting out, it may not be strictly necessary. You may, depending upon your age and goals, wish to maintain your heart rate within a specific range whilst you exercise. You can find relatively inexpensive heart rate monitor watches which are easy to use quite readily these days.

An mp3 player is another worthwhile investment if you don’t already own one. You can play motivational tracks in order to encourage yourself to keep going. If you prefer, you can just exercise whilst listening to your favorite tunes – that will probably work just as well. Both the miles and the time will pass much more quickly when you’re listening to your favorite tunes. You can pick up mp3 players very cheaply these days – or you can pay several hundred dollars for a top of the range model – but even an entry level one will probably be all you need to keep motivated.

If you want to spend a few dollars on the latest no effort ab cruncher or wonder juice made from crushed Himalayan berries, then feel free. However, the previously mentioned items should be more than enough to get you started – and they will almost certainly be helpful to you in your exercise program.

Filed under: Product Reviews on August 27th, 2010