Indoor Walking Plan to Stay Active in Fayetteville, NC

Keeping a regular indoor walking plan can help you fight off life-altering issues like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, dementia, and even mental health problems. A gentle warm-up, a 10-minute walk, and a relaxing cool-down all represent an easy and accessible way for seniors to stay active.

Walking indoors lets you stay active even during dangerous weather. You'll get your exercise while also staying safe in Fayetteville, NC, which is only 64 miles south of Raleigh.

We're here to help you set up a thorough plan so you can maintain good physical and mental health at all times. Keep reading to get started!

Start With a Warm-Up

You may remember your past gym teachers harping on about the importance of a warm-up, and we're going to do the same. A few simple dynamic stretches are all it takes to get your muscles and joints ready to tackle low-impact routines.

You can even warm up while sitting down, so you save potentially limited energy for the walk itself.

Walk for Ten Minutes

Once your heart rate increases and your body feels more flexible from the warm-up, it's time to start the walk. Finding a long stretch of hallway can make it easy to continue your walk, but you can do circles in your senior apartments if that feels more comfortable for you.

Start with ten minutes for your first attempt. Analyze how you're feeling and keep tabs on any physical pains or weakness as you continue your day.

You'll have the chance to increase your walk's difficulty later, but it's best to start with a short walk to gauge your capabilities. Walking indoors for seniors requires you to understand the limits of your body, and starting with a ten-minute walk is a great foundation for this kind of understanding.

End With a Cool-Down

Cool-downs are as important as the warm-up section of your walking plan. These movements help your muscles relax without seizing up. You'll find that physical activity soreness is more prevalent on the days you've forgotten to do a proper cool-down.

Walking for a few minutes at a slow pace can be enough of a cool-down, while others prefer to do similar dynamic stretches as their warm-up.

Repeat

Now comes the truly hard part of an indoor walking plan: repeating this process regularly. For an ultimate healthy aging activity, it's good to get in a daily walk, but we understand that's not possible sometimes.

Instead, strive for three times a week. Don't be afraid to add extra walks depending on how you feel on a day-to-day basis.

Increasing Difficulty

As you work on your physical health, you'll find that your walking plan is starting to feel too easy. That's when it's time to amp up the difficulty. You can do this by:

Extending the time spent walking
Increasing your walking speed
Using small weights to increase resistance
Adding different movements into the walk (such as skipping or side-stepping)

Again, remember to start slow with these difficulty increases until you find a good equilibrium.

It's better to continue an easier walking plan than to increase the difficulty too fast and end up injuring yourself. Injuries could prevent you from walking at all for several weeks.

Staying Engaged

To keep walking, you'll need to find ways to stay engaged while exercising. Listening to music is a classic method, while others prefer to listen to an audiobook. The good news is that both are great for memory care wellness, as well.

Try getting your senior community involved so you can encourage one another to continue. It's easier to stay accountable when there are other people involved.

Find a way to make the walk fun so you look forward to it, rather than dreading it.

Track Your Progress

What's the point of putting in so much hard work if you don't celebrate successes?

For instance, you could celebrate after a week of continuous walking or a month of sticking to your plan. Celebrate after realizing you need to increase the difficulty to get more out of the workout.

Don't be embarrassed to feel good about your accomplishments. It takes a lot of perseverance to stay on track with any exercise plan, and you deserve all the praise!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Indoor Walking Plans Work?

As long as you follow your walking plan regularly and remember to increase difficulty as needed, then the answer is a resounding yes. Walking is a great source of assisted living exercise, aids in cardiovascular fitness, and helps reduce stress, whether you're indoors, outdoors, or on a treadmill.

The plan only works if you put in the time and effort to do a walk regularly. Don't forget to celebrate your successes to find extra motivation for those days when you feel unenthusiastic.

How Long Should an Indoor Walk Be?

This depends on your physical capabilities. You want to aim for a timeline that pushes you enough that you start to feel the burn of exercise without going overboard. Pushing too hard or walking for too long can lead to injury.

Start small and work your way up to longer walks. If a singular long walk feels impossible, sprinkle several smaller walks throughout your day instead.

Are Two 15-Minute Walks as Good as One 30-Minute Walk?

Yes, since the total minutes walked still equal the same. You'll end up spending an equal amount of time working on things like:

Building muscle mass
Practicing balance
Burning calories

If you're only able to walk 15 minutes at a time, but your goal is 30, taking a break between the walks won't impact the benefits you'll gain. You can choose to take a morning walk and then an evening walk so you always tackle each workout with plenty of energy.

Get Help Starting an Indoor Walking Plan With TerraBella Fayetteville

Any kind of new exercise regimen takes dedication to maintain. An indoor walking plan is no different. A supportive senior community can motivate you to stay on track.

Whether you're looking to improve your physical health or want to join a community that encourages you to live your best life, consider TerraBella Fayetteville. Our supportive caretakers work with residents to reach new health goals with exciting activities, social events, and maintenance-free amenities.