Gauging your body’s energy is the first thing you should do when you begin a walking workout. Do you have little, some, or ample energy? The more energy you have, the more you may need to burn so you sleep well that night. In this sense, you’re in partnership with your body by optimizing walking effort for the sake of higher goals.
Among the highest physical fitness goals are good health, adequate sleep, and a clear mind. So, how much walking should you do each day to achieve those goals on an ongoing basis? This is a vital training consideration. For, if you can walk too much, too little, or just enough to achieve your goals, what good is too little? And why would you exhaust your body with too much? And how would you know when you’ve got it right?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all walking regimen. On days when your energy is low, for example, it’s better to walk a short route even though you fail to accumulate your target steps. Your body is different from your thinking ego mind. The mind has its schedule; the body has its energy. Thus, doing more could lead to a night of wakefulness because your body can’t relax, while doing less could be more when it comes to being able to sleep well that night. Daily walking requires a subtle mind.
Did I just say, “daily walking?” Well, that’s another consideration. And again, from a purely physical perspective, the key question is what’s best for your body? Remember, your body is a separate entity from your thinking ego mind. Your mind is doing its best to create the best possible life story for itself. But your mind can be clueless when it comes to fitness training. That’s why you should be ready to respond on a dime with effort gradations adjustable to your body’s physical sensations.
“It’s better, I believe, to remain in daily contact with your body’s energy, while striving to maintain the consistency of effort and recovery.”
One of the pitfalls of over training is having abundant energy. It’s a pitfall to use abundance as a windfall by, say, racing your buddies, showing off for the neighbors, or breaking your record for whatever your body feels up to in the moment. Bodies like movement, especially rapid movement when their energy is as good as it gets. But the downside to killer workouts is the extra time your body needs to recover its energy and reduce the risk of injury. It’s better, I believe, to remain in daily contact with your body’s energy, while striving to maintain the consistency of effort and recovery.
If you can accurately anticipate your body’s daily walking energy, optimal walking efforts can also be anticipated and controlled. Exhilaration isn’t necessary when one’s experience indicates enjoyment or being satisfied with a walk gets better results in the long term. After all, if your walking regimen isn’t sustainable, then what’s the use of carrying on? You might as well take up swimming or biking. Except, where the mind is concerned, one might face the same dilemma with any sport activity.
The body might be a separate entity, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a close collaborator in a mutually advantageous health and fitness project. For the project to be successful, however, you must put your body in control of most effort-related decisions. For that to happen you must become adept at reading and responding to its energy.