Get decked out in the right equipment

When you’re serious about staying in shape, going for a walk or run involves more than just pulling on a pair of old sneakers and heading out. If you want to be comfortable, stay safe and have fun you’ll want to consider a few essential pieces of equipment.

What you’ll need
•    Shoes – Asics, New Balance, Saucony, Nike, Adidas – the list of respected athletic shoe brands is long. Make sure when you’re *choosing shoes[Athletic Shoes] that they are made specifically for the activity you’ll be doing. Walkers have different needs than runners and require different footwear.
•    Warm weather clothing – Since your plan is to work up a sweat you should be wearing moisture-wicking clothes that pull the sweat away from your body and keep you cool and dry. Cotton is an ok choice, but it can get wet and cause chafing. Clothes should be comfortable and non-restrictive. It’s handy to have a zippered pocket somewhere on your outfit to hold house keys or other valuables.
•    Cold weather clothing - If there’s a chill in the air it’s best to layer clothing on the body and keep extremities warm with lightweight mitts and a hat. Wind resistant outer layers keep away cold breezes. You’ll be glad if you splurge on thermal socks. If you live in an area that gets lots of snow and ice, strap a pair of Ice Joggers over you’re shoes; they have tiny plastic spikes on the bottom to keep you from slipping.
•    Skincare – Skin lotions and lip balms don’t exactly sound like walking and running essentials but they are. Products with an SPF will protect you from the sun’s damaging rays all-year-round, while extra moisturizing products will keep your skin from getting dry and chapped in the winter.

Extras
•    Pedometer – Basic *Pedometers[Choosing the Best Pedometer] can be bought for as little as $10, or more advanced ones for as much as $50. The better models will include a calorie counter, heart rate monitor, distance calculator and be able to differentiate between walking and jogging steps. Some keep track of your steps for up to a week at a time and allow you to upload your data to computer.
•    Tunes – Whether you want a top-of-the-line iPod to hold your library of 10,000 MP3s, or a bargain basement player that’ll hold 250, having some sort of music or instructional tape to keep you motivated is a good idea.
•    Nordic walking poles - Want to boost your calorie burn by as much as 46 percent without feeling like you’re working that much harder? How about reducing tension in your neck and shoulders just by walking in a way that also reduces stress on the knees? These handy poles are the answer. They generally cost about $70 to $100, and come with tips to help you tackle all terrain, including metal tips for slip-free winter walking.

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When it comes to cycling, there are those outdoors diehards who relish the feeling of wind (or rain) in their hair as they dodge potholes and pets and struggle up hills before coasting down the other side.

Then there are the cyclists who don’t even own a bicycle and rarely if ever ride one surrounded by nature. The only breeze they feel is from an industrial fan, and any hills or obstacles are all in their heads. As strange as it sounds there are many diehards in this “group cycle” group too.

I’m choosing to sit on the fence for this one for one good reason. I really enjoy both. You might not have heard me saying that four months ago though, because there was a time when I thought indoor cycling was boring and uncomfortable. And since you can burn way more calories on a treadmill or cross trainer, I thought why waste good workout time.

Or that’s what I thought before I discovered group cycling, or spinning as it’s sometimes known, and fell in love with indoor cycling. To start with the bikes are different than those hefty plastic monsters found sandwiched between stair steppers and ellipticals in the cardio section.

Group cycling bikes are sleek and slim-framed, with smooth resistance and enough adjustments to fit almost any body size. Seats go up and down, back and forward, as do the handlebars. The only complaint I had in the beginning (and it’s a frequent complaint from newbies like myself) was the pain in my butt and it was gone after just a few classes.

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