Pre requisites for walking – # III

Before you start walking

Make sure that you are ready physically by seeing your doctor, especially if you have been sedentary for a while, and have any condition which could be affected by exercise, such as high blood pressure.

Warm-up and stretch the lower body, especially the calves. Perform a gradual 5 minute walk then stretch. Likewise on completion stretch out again to help prevent muscle soreness and strain in your muscles.

Prepare your route. I would suggest you to try varied location. Changes in your route can bring more diversity and draw new experiences.

Your Route

Concentrate on safe routes in busy areas that you know when starting out, just in case you feel ill, or simply to tired to continue and to avoid getting lost.

Public parks found in every major areas in Bangalore and big parks ( Cubon, Lal Bag Garden … are all ideal beginner’s routes. For those willing to go a pretty distance these trails and larger parks offer both great scenery and a wider variety of routes. Make sure that you stick to both well established tracks and if possible hire a local chap to get through the new terrain.

We always hire a local person when we got for trips near Kallar area, in Trivandrum.

Your Clothes

It is important that your clothes are both comfortable and practical. I wear shorts and I find very few people do so.. Why don’t guys walk like that.?

Keeping your clothing clean will enable the fibres to both keep your warm and also take the sweat away from your body; matted fibres will not do this.

Wearing layers will enable you to both keep warm, as the air is trapped between the layers of clothing, and also let you take layers off as you start to get warm.

Walking Shoes

Avoid going for looks; go for comfort when choosing your walking shoes. Training shoes with a laced fit, with rubber soles offer good support for general walking on firm ground. If walking over uneven hilly ground a hiking boot with more support is recommended.

When purchasing your shoes, wear your socks, sports socks for trainers, or two thin pairs / one thick pair for hiking boots, cotton / wool non tight socks will allow your feet to breathe. There are many good designs from fitness walking shoes through hiking boots. You will want more flex in an athletic shoe, more support in a hiking shoe.

When choosing hiking boots, you should be able to twist them a bit (torsion flexibility). They need more of a bend than a running shoe – in the forefoot, not the arch, in order to keep the front of the boot slightly off the ground.

Inside the boot, you should have good arch support, and a correct fitting, if they feel tight, go up a size, as your feet will expand when hot and under pressure.

Select a boot made of strong leather or breathable nylon with good water proofing capabilities.

About my daily walking ritual……………

My daily walk takes me eighter to Indira Nagar Park near CMH road or the one behind ESI hospital. The one I frequent most is the park near CMH road. It’s two parks adjoining each other. One park has a well maintained garden and the other is had more wooded and greenary. This park has the right attitude and I’m familar with the most of the daily walkers who come to sweat and swing.

One good thing about Bangalore is the way they are maintaining this small oasis amidst the chaos and rampant urbal development. For what little BDA is doing, they deserve credit.

So much for about the healthier aspects of walking around, as of me it also takes on the charm of walking up early seeing the bring sun and to see equally spirited people who come to share the same spirit.