A recent issue of Prevention magazine listed The Best Walking Cities of 2007 based on the following criteria:
• % of pop that walks for exercise
• Use of mass transit
• Parks per square mile
• Points of interest per square mile
• Avg winter/summer temperatures
• % of athletic shoe buyers
Austin, Texas was rated the second best walking city in American after Madison,Wisconsin. New Orleans did not make the list.
For many people, walking is often their only form of exercise. It is easy to do, it burns some calories, the likelihood of injury is minimal, it does not take special equipment, and dogs like it. There is little in the way of a downside, but there is one thing though that walking cannot do – it does not promote the maintenance or building of muscle.
Part of the aging process is the gradual loss of muscle over the decades. No amount of walking or running will stop or even slow that a process, but strength training does. From age 60 to 70 we lose 15 to 30% of our lean body mass. At Kelly Personal Training in Austin and at Ultimate Fitness in New Orleans we have a designed our personal training sessions to have the biggest impact in the least amount of time, so you can enjoy walking and enjoyable activities longer and more often. With the right exercise program your life can be transformed in just minutes a week, and you will have more time to enjoy life outside the gym.
