【推荐1】Unlike walking the dog or strolling round the park, longer distance walks offer all the benefits of any fitness challenge. Getting outdoors to stride it out—either in company or alone, will boost your health and mood.     1    . Simply follow our expert tips below and then try the eight-week hiking training plan.

Marathon runners wouldn’t dream of hitting the roads to do the same-old thing.     2    . Similarly, you can vary between doing long-distance walks and high-speed, short walks, and train on different terrain (地形). Your body gets used to the same motions and stops getting fitness gains, so switch sessions.

    3    . If you’re planning to complete a long walk, you’ll need to road-test the trainers. Your feet get bigger when you walk all day, so choose shoes that have some spreading room. Also consider buying some walking-specific kit. Look for light, sweat-taking materials.

Finding a long-distance route can be tricky but there are plenty of resources to help. The Ramblers (ramblers.org.uk), for example, offers more than 2,500 routes with written directions.     4    .

If you want to stay injury free, steadily increase the distance.     5    . Walk at your acceptable pace, relax your shoulders and swing your arms in rhythm with your stride. Roll your foot from heel to toe to push off the ground.

【推荐3】Setting a new personal max is a great way to chart your progress toward your fitness goals.

    1    One useful step is to improve VO: max(最大摄氧量), which is a measure of w much oxygen your body can take in and use during exercise. The more oxygen your body can put to use while you work out, the better your performance will be, whether you’re running a long-distance race or playing a sport like tennis or soccer.

    2    The first is to build up your aerobic(有氧)base,which is achieved by doing a lot of lower-intensity(低强度)aerobic work. In running,that would mean a lot of long, slow miles, with the goal of building up your distance over time.Doing this increases your overall aerobic capacity(容量)which in turn will help your body be much better at taking in and using oxygen.

Exercise physiologist and Ironman coach Alan Couzens is rich in his experience working with athletes.    3    In it he claims that the largest gains in VO₂max tend to come when their training plan includes a lot of lower-intensity aerobic work.

In addition to these long,slow miles, you’ll want to add to some more traditional“VO₂ max”workouts, which feature short bursts of high-intensity work at 90-95% of your maximum heart rate.    4    

However,although it can be attractive (and feel good) to push yourself every time you exercise，high-intensity intervals(间歇)should only contain a small percentage of your overall workout routine.     5     As Jason Fitzgerald wrote for Outside Magazine, you should avoid long-time work at a VO₂ max level, as it is tough on the body.Instead,he advises,“Save most of these intense, specific workouts for the final step of training when you’re sharpening for a race.”