Walk the Walk: Catching the Rhythm

Diet Detective Editorial Staff
For Active.com

To make your stroll even more pleasant, tune in to your internal metronome.

When you walk, there are many different things to pay attention to: the beautiful scenery to pass, the crosswalk signs, the little kid that might step out in front of you. All these things are messages from outside of your body. I would like you to pay some attention now to something from inside of your body.

When we walk or do any physical exercise over a long period of time, we get a natural cadence or rhythm that keeps our bodies moving in time. Most of us fall into that rhythm pretty naturally. Most people can feel it when they click into the groove. For many, it's the pace of their favorite exercise or tunes. While that's fine, I'd like you to start thinking of your own pace-setting mechanisms inside your body. We all have two other rhythms, which when we add the rhythms of our walking, create a much smoother and more enjoyable walk.

Breathing

We all have a natural breathing pattern we follow most of the day and are probably not even aware of. When weexercise, our breathing becomes very important, as our bodies need more air to move it along.

Try to coordinate the rhythm of your steps with the rhythm of your breathing. You can breathe in for two steps and breathe out for two steps--or do it in any combination that feels comfortable for you. You'll be surprised at what a difference this can make for your walking.

Heart Rate

As we exercise, our hearts pump blood at a faster rate than when we are resting. The harder we exercise, the faster our hearts pump.

Depending on your level of fitness and age, your heart rate (or pulse) could be anywhere from 100 to 200 beats per minute during exercise. When you walk, listen to your heart and try to coordinate that beat with your steps.

Coordinating these three rhythms--steps, breath and heart beats--may seem like a simple thing to do, but it will make a big difference in how you feel. Just like a trio of musicians works better together when they agree on a pace, so will you feel the difference.