Power Walking with Dumb Bells

Power walking has long been extolled as a great way to get some fresh air and get some exercise, but with a slight modification of your routine, your next power walking session get become a great arm work out as well! The repetition of moving your arms while power walking, aided by the tension of dumb bell curls, will get your arms toned up in no time!

Next time you hit the trail bring along a set of dumb bells. Dumb bells weighing from 3 -5 pounds should be more than sufficient, but personally I have found that anything less than 5 pounds does nothing for your arms. However, seeing as how this may be your first time, you might want to start with light hand weights. The natural arm swing of walking - which is slightly exaggerated when you power walk - is augmented by the presence of the hand weights.

When I power walk with dumb bells I tend to treat the walk as more of a workout and less as a relaxing past time. I don't concentrate on repetitions necessarily, but in an average 30-minute workout, I try to focus on sets of 25 repetitions. You can time the curling movement to that of your steps. The challenge of power walking with weights is that you shouldn't be resting after you complete a set. You need to keep walking!

I try to mix things up by alternating my bicep curls with overhead triceps curls. Again, time the curling movement with that of your steps. You should have a rhythm of stepping and curling at the same time.

Basic Advice for Power Waking with Weights

Before you start a power walking-dumbbell workout, consult a doctor or your trainer if you have any illness, diabetes, hypertension or any heart illness. You may also want to consult your trainer to learn what is the best amount of weight you should be lifting. I learned through trail and error, but I also had a foundation of weight training to fall back on.

It goes without saying that it's important to stretch before you power walk with dumb bells. Stretching will reduce the chance of injury to the joints, tendons and muscles. You can learn a lot more about proper stretching here.

A Few Words About Posture

According to novafeel.com the proper posture for power walking involves the following:

- Put the heel on the ground with your knee slightly bent!

- Roll through the entire step from heal to toe! When the foot touches the ground, the knee should remain slightly bent.

- Bend your elbows at the side of your body and swing them energetically back and forwards! But remember you'll be holding weights.

- Consciously breathe in and out. If you want to speed up then you should increase your step rate and not your stride length.

For a cool power walking with dumb bells variation check out this tutorial about doing the same kind of work out on a treadmill.

Power walking with dumb bells could be just the thing you need to whip those arms of yours into shape! For more on power walking check out powerwalkersword.com.

Now get out there andstart walking!