Complete Idiot's Guide to Walking for Health - Softcover

Peters, Erika

9780028640020: Complete Idiot's Guide to Walking for Health

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0028640020 ISBN 13: 9780028640020

Publisher: Alpha, 2001

New studies show that walking for an hour a day, five days a week, can cut a person's risk of stroke in half. Walking conditions the heart, improves muscle tone, develops strength, relieves stress and eases various health problems. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Walking for Health "walks" readers through an easy, safe and inexpensive way to fitness, discussing the importance of stretching, what clothes to wear, and where to walk safely. The title also offers programs that readers can coordinate their lives around or fit into a busy schedule. Dozens of Websites, magazines and journals are listed as an in-depth resource.

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Review:

Walking for Health is a guide to creating a fitness program based on walking. Not sauntering, not window-shopping, not strolling, not stopping to smell the flowers--but walking with a brisk, purposeful stride. Personal trainer Erika Peters helps you start a walking program literally one step at a time. She explains the health benefits (both mental and physical) of exercise and gives some all-purpose fitness information: how to measure your fitness level, make a commitment, and set goals. Then she gets into walking specifically, discussing everything you might need to know, from what to wear to how to step for specific purposes. For example, did you know that walking on the beach is more likely to shape your derriere because you're pushing your way out of the sand? Peters explains how to add intensity and variety once you're past beginner stage by adding speed, hills, or intervals. If you have arthritis, diabetes, or a heart problem, she has special tips for you. In case you think you don't have time to walk, Peters shows you how to fit it into your busy lifestyle. Photos illustrate various exercises, such as warm-ups, stretches, fitness tests, and strength exercises. Although most of the book is specifically about walking, she also discusses weight training and weight loss. The style is peppy and friendly. Arm yourself with this book, and you'll run out of excuses not to walk. --Joan Price

About the Author:

Erika Peters has a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and has been an avid exerciser all of her life. Her belief in the benefits of health and fitness are so strong that she decided to make a career out of them in 1998. In addition to being a full-time personal trainer at Club One in Oakland, California, Erika has her own private fitness practice in which she takes her knowledge of health and exercise into the homes of residents around the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a certified Fitness Instructor through California State University at Hayward, and holds additional certifications from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) as well as the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). She is currently pursuing her passion of triathlons in which she plans to compete beginning in the spring of 2001. One of her favorite quotes is: "Happiness is a state of activity," by Aristotle.

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