Personal Development Community

Any suggestions?  My daughter and I like to take our walk together every monring.  However, i have 28 years and 20 pounds more than she does.  Therefore, when we are walking the same speed, I end up breaking a sweat and have actually lost a few pounds.  She says she is walking slowing so that I can keep up with her, and she doesnt feel like she is getting as good a cardio workout. 

does anyone have any suggestions as to how we could increase her walking workout, so that we can still walk together and she can get a better workout?

M

Hi,

Could your daughter do sprints when you are it the middle of a block to the end and then back to you?  Sort of interval training.

It may be more a matter of somehow getting you to move faster.  Is is possible for you to roller blade or ride a bike?

I know this is not really the answer but I have been the slower one and and usually ends with me doing it alone.

You could try having her do a very slow jog. Running slow is much harder than it seems, and it burns almost twice the calories as walking at the same speed. When my daughter walks with me, I do this sometimes. She’s 11, so I have a little bit of height on her (not for long, I know) and this helps. Good luck!

Bree

Sometimes when I run with friends who are slower I will run ahead and then circle back to chat with them. That way I have the fun of running with a friend, and the bonus of a longer run. She could walk fast and then circle back to you. It’s a fun way for you both to work at your own pace. Other times I will run out farther and then on the way back try to catch my slower friend-she becomes my “rabbit.” Having a buddy with you is worth trying to find a way to make it work.

I heard a report on NPR today, that doing intervals, short periods of greater exertion mixed with rest periods does more to burn calories than working at a steady rate.  Maybe you could both work intervals into your training, she exerts herself, then drops back to be with you while you exert yourself to walk faster, then you rest while she walks or runs ahead for a cycle.  What ever you do, have fun with it and make it a game.  You’ll both be winners.