Category Archives: walking

Slimming down the cost of getting fitter

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When most people decide they want to get into some sort of exercise routine, their first consideration is often cost. You can start by checking the Sunday newspaper circulars – what’s on sale at Target? Does anybody know of any good workout DVD’s? Does Sears have a decent treadmill that I can put on my credit card?

The good news is that there are even more options than these, some of which are even free.

First things first: start by talking with your primary care physician (PCP) about your specific goals. Your doctor will tell you what they think you’re physically up to doing, and they can often refer you to a nutritionist, physical therapist, or other specialist, if such attention is needed. If your PCP is part of a “patient-centered medical home” (sometimes called a “PCMH”), your health insurance plan may cover visits to your doctor with a reduced (or $0!) co-pay. The key thing here is that you never want to start a new exercise plan without checking in with your doc FIRST.

Second: look at no-cost options. Make sure you actually LIKE the exercise/plan you’re trying out before you invest cash in it. Consider walking or running in your neighborhood before you buy a treadmill or get a gym membership. Cable TV subscribers can often benefit from “On Demand” services offered through cable providers like Cox, Comcast and Time Warner that allow you to view unlimited quantities of exercise videos as part of your cable subscription. Try before you buy those DVD’s!

Third: Use the discounts that you get through sources OTHER than the paper. Many health insurance plans, especially the national biggies (i.e., Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Aetna and Cigna) offer “wellness” programs that include discounts on everything from gym memberships to equipment to apparel. Some insurers also offer rewards for completing wellness activities, like completing online health assessments or going for an annual physical exam. Go to your insurer’s web site or call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card to get the skinny on these discounts.

Fourth: Look at work! Many workplaces have started to offer wellness programs and rewards, sometimes in addition to those offered through the insurance plan. Rewards can be anything from cash reimbursement for specific activities and memberships to discounts on gym memberships, race registrations, and more. Check with the Human Resources (HR) department, as applicable, for more info on what may be available for you.

I’ve gotten some great deals for myself in the last 12 months, like personal training sessions at my gym paid for by my company, and 15% off my awesome sneakers for the marathon (Brooks Addiction) at the local running store, thanks to our health insurer. I know about these discounts mostly because I read the stuff that’s posted on the HR section of my company’s intranet, and I glance at our health insurer’s newsletter before I toss it in the recycle bin. I also occasionally log in and check our health insurer’s web site for new discounts, since deals are often updated there and not put in the printed material. In other words, there are LOADS of things out there to help reduce the cost of getting fitter, and they’re not always hidden in the most obvious places. Happy hunting! (and if you know of other good, semi-hidden/non-obvious sources, feel free to post them in the comments so others can benefit from your wisdom!)

Product Review: Empower Fitness 2lb Pair Walking Weights

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{Disclaimers: 1) I am not, not do I claim to be a doctor. Before you attempt to use this product, check with your primary care physician and/or specialist health care professional to be sure that it’s right for you. 2) I received this product for the purpose of testing and was allowed to keep it as a courtesy for posting a review. I received no other compensation for this review and was specifically told, “Write whatever you want.” In other words: this is MY opinion and not a company-paid PR piece. Take that for what you will.}

Seeing as how I’m trying to find ways to kick up my workouts by a notch or so, as I get closer to the next marathon, it seemed only fitting that I try out workout weights. I’d been intrigued by them before, since they seem to come in so many flavors – things that wrap around your ankles, things that wrap around your wrists, things that wrap around your waist, etc. So, when I was offered a chance to try out weights that you hand-carry, I was definitely interested in seeing how well they worked.

The product I tested is a 2lb pair walking weight set from Empower Fitness; the set is 2lb total (1lb per weight). These are supposed to be designed specifically for women, and the softness of the sand inside them certainly did make them comfortable to hold. They’re enclosed in a bit of neoprene, with a neoprene strap to go around your hand – again, all quite comfy stuff. According to the Empower Fitness web site, the set retails for $9.99.

Empower Fitness 2lb Pair Walking Weights

Empower Fitness 2lb Pair Walking Weights

 

The tests:

I did a bunch of walks with these, both indoors and outdoors, ranging from as little as a half-hour to just over an hour. Distances covered were anywhere from 1.5 – 4mi, with my pace ranging between 17-20min/mi.

Typically, I was walking holding my arms parallel to my body with my forearms approximately 90 degrees off from my upper arm. Holding the weights seemed to force me to have better posture and hold my core muscles tighter than I typically would without the weights.

The results:

I liked them! They were comfortable to carry and they were light enough to be easily carried in one hand if needed, yet heavy enough to give me just that little bit of resistance I needed to make my walk a bit more of a workout than it was previously. The straps made it easy to hang onto them, and the squishiness from the sand meant that they had plenty of give for me.

If I needed to put them aside so I could get a drink, if I was indoors and on a treadmill, it was easy enough to put them on the shelf in front of me. When I was outside, they were light enough to transfer to one hand and carry as 2lbs on one side while I got my drink.

It’s a handy thing that you can wipe them down if you need to, although I will say that no matter how sweaty my hands got from wearing them during walking workouts, they never got stinky (big plus!). They  never slipped off my hands due to  sweat; they really seemed to fit my hands perfectly with those straps, and I appreciated the comfortable, tight-but-not-constrictive fit of the straps.

If you’re interested in spending short dollars to add a little oomph to your walks, I’d recommend giving these a try. I’ll definitely continue using them, and don’t be surprised if I purchase a carabiner to allow me just to clip them to a belt-loop for much longer walks when I want to alternate using/not using them. For my walks around my neighborhood, I often eschew wicking fabric in favor of my boy cargo shorts; they just make it a ton easier to carry stuff (granola bars, iPhone, etc.). Hence – a carabiner + these weights (or two carabiners, so I can clip one to each side) is a VERY likely outcome for future walks.

Where to buy:

You can purchase these at various places online, including Amazon.com. Check out the Empower Fitness web site for full details on purchase options.

I can see for miles and miles…

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I’ve always liked walking. It’s certainly better than running, in my opinion, since I’m not usually winded and feeling like my lungs will explode from a good walk – which even a 1/4mi run will do to me. Also, based on what my doctor has said about my knees, running is dead out. So, it’s walking for me.

And with the marathon slowly approaching, about 6 months out, I feel like I have sufficient time to ramp up so that I can cross that finish line not limping…justwalking. Naturally, this requires that I find ways to get my endurance up, such as training walks during the week on the treadmill at my office’s fitness center. Those are a bit tough lately, what with my calendar turning into a sea of red from meetings piled on top of meetings, but I’m trying to get back into a 3-day/wk fitness center schedule. Then we get to the weekends, and things invariably get odder.

So this is where I noticed that as I was leaving the Y this morning, after dd’s swim class, I was curious about the mileage from our house to the Y. Turns out that we’re 5-ish miles from the Y. Hmm. That means I could send dh with BOTH kids to the swim class next week (ds would sit in the stands and watch) and walk over to meet up with them. Of course, that throws off the usual Sunday schedule of one parent at swim class and the other at the grocery store, with kids split evenly between us, but sometimes you have to make such sacrifices.

The loop I did last weekend turned out to be 4 miles (which was why it was such a breeze), so I’m looking to push the distance, even early in the training cycle. I could stay off the main roads and just stick to a loop around secondary & tertiary streets, but then it’s a matter of which ones have sidewalks and making sure I’m appropriately brightly colored for the ones that don’t.

What I would like to get my hands on is an iPhone app that helps you track how far you’ve walked in distance (not steps), so that I don’t have to rely on Google Maps to give me mileage. Don’t get me wrong – Google maps does fine, especially now that they have the walking directions feature – but it would be nice to have something I can just use to measure these right from my phone. I’m sure there’s one out there, but I haven’t seen one that really fits my bill just yet (so suggestions are more than welcome!).

It’s hard to figure out how to fit it all in. When your schedule during any given week is like playing a game of Jenga, it seems monumentally difficult to wedge in exercise/training time. I know that you have to prioritize it and all, but there are a lot of competing priorities in my life (kids, work, etc.) and sometimes it feels like the true marathon is just trying to go the distance on that without completely dorking everything up.

I’ll figure it out. I really want to walk across that finish line this year, finishing stronger than I did last year. That 26.2 sticker felt SO GOOD going on my car. I guess I just need to figure out how to juggle “marathons” and finish strong across the board. Sounds easier than it is, I’m sure, bu probably worth doing nonetheless.