Walk your way to good health with this comprehensive guide by the authors of the best-selling and highly acclaimed Beginning Runner's Handbook.

North America's most popular physical activity isn't baseball, hockey, or soccer, it's walking. For most of us, walking is the single most beneficial, all-purpose physical activity: it can be done by people of all ages and virtually all levels of physical ability with little risk of injury, and it can be done inexpensively year-round, indoors and outside. Best of all, brisk walking-for 30 minutes, four to seven days a week-reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and some cancers. Regular walkers also have more energy, more stamina, lower stress levels and sleep better. No wonder 69% of Canadians and just over 50% of Americans reported walking for exercise. Walking for Fitness: The Beginner's Guide is a comprehensive guide to making the most of your walking. Did you know that the average adult walks 4,500 steps a day? For optimal health, we should be walking closer to 10,000 steps, or the equivalent of 5 miles/8 kilometers in the course of each day. Marnie Caron and SportMedBC, authors of the best-selling Beginning Runner's Handbook, bring their tried-and-true formula to walking. With two step-by-step programs; advice on what to wear, what to eat, and where to walk; tips from professionals on staying motivated and avoiding injury; real-life stories from walkers of all ages and abilities, Walking for Fitness makes increasing the amount you walk both easy and painless. Whether your goal is to return to activity, reduce your risk of illness and injury, participate in a charity walk, prepare for a walking holiday, or minimize your impact on the environment, this encouraging, easily readable book will help you put your best foot forward.

Marnie Caron writes extensively in the area of sport health and sport training as SportMedBC's Communications Coordinator. She holds an M.A. in Communication Studies with a focus on the health of First Nations women in Canada. Marnie lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia is a not-for-profit society that is a focal point for sport health, sport safety, and sport training within British Columbia. SportMedBC is located in Vancouver.

Books also in the Series: The Beginning Runner's Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk/Run Program, now in its 3rd edition, and Marathon and Half-Marathon: The Beginner's Guide.

08/11/06