Thirty Minutes to Boost Your Brainpower
I often joke with my clients who think they aren’t coordinated that, in truth, they are. And the reason I know they are is very simple: they can walk.
Walking is one of the most amazing functions our bodies can perform—but it’s also one that is invariably taken for granted. Sure, anyone can walk, but like any other physical activity, it takes only a very small amount of time and training to learn how to do it with even more skill. Once you master the basics of trained walking, you will be striding tall, with your head, neck, and back perfectly aligned; you’ll engage more muscles, particularly those in your core; you’ll strengthen your joints, ligaments, and tendons, particularly those in your knees, hips, and ankles; and you’ll burn more calories.
The only equipment you’ll need when you walk is a good pair of walking shoes that offer sufficient soft-tissue support. Therefore, I suggest that you find a good pair of shoes designed specifically for walking. If you’re sore after your walks, especially around your ankles or heels, your shoes might not have enough support, and you should choose another pair.
Those of you who are advanced or experienced athletes and who have put in many miles walking can also consider carrying light weights to get an upper-body workout during your walks. And I mean light—no more than 3 to 5 pounds in each hand. But carry these weights only if they do not affect your postural alignment and you can stride as easily as you would if you weren’t holding anything. You’ll know the weights are too heavy if your lower back becomes sore or if you have discomfort in your ankles and/or knees. When you’re holding the right weight, you won’t have any soreness afterward.
Super Body, Super Brain Walk Training
Training yourself to walk is much more precise than merely cranking up your speed or swinging your arms more vigorously. One of the best exercises to improve your posture and alignment—one that you can easily do at home or outside on a hard, level surface (or even when waiting for a slow elevator to arrive!)—is to walk heel to toe. This brilliant little exercise literally trains you to walk perfectly. It works your hip stabilizers and strengthens the ligaments and tendons in your knees and ankles, which is helpful for anyone who has weakness in those joints. Even better, it’s an exercise that every family member can do, and you need only a very small space with a level floor to do it in.
Thanks to our body’s innate proprioception, you won’t fall over when you do the heel-to-toe exercise. As you learned in chapter 1, your brain will be working hard to send the signals to the receptors in your muscles to keep your body upright, and your muscles will send the signals right back up to your brain.
I saw this concept in action when I was playing basketball in Spain and ankle injuries, particularly sprains, were extremely common. The trainers and physical therapists who worked with us always had us strengthen our sore ankles by having us get on a balance board with an unstable surface and then stand on one leg with our eyes closed. This was a terrific exercise in proprioception, since closing our eyes while striving to keep our balance robbed our brains of all visual cues, so our sensory system had to work that much harder to send and integrate all the signals from our proprioceptive receptors about where we were in space. Keeping this system functioning smoothly is what prevents you from falling over and injuring yourself.
I have practiced this exercise for over twenty-five hundred hours with many clients over the years, with a huge range in age and fitness level, and never had an ankle twist. Your body really is an amazing machine. Thanks to its innate proprioceptive skills, you will not fall over or twist your ankles while doing this exercise, even with your eyes closed. Should your body sense its balance to be out of whack, your eyes would automatically fly open and you would instantly right yourself.
Here’s all you have to do to train yourself to walk:
Place one foot directly in front of the other, head up and eyes focused forward, in either an imaginary straight line or along the edge of a floor tile or board.
Take six steps forward, keeping your heels and toes aligned.
Then do the same thing, taking six steps backward.
Sounds ridiculously simple, right? But believe me, it’s not as easy as it looks!
The key to doing this exercise properly is to fix your eyes on a point in the distance, precisely at eye level. You should not look down at your feet, which places undue stress on your neck muscles and throws your entire spine out of alignment.
But most people can’t keep themselves from looking down. They not only fear taking steps without seeing what’s in front of their feet, but don’t understand the importance of correct postural alignment—which you can never have if your head and neck are turned down as you walk.
The reason that, when done properly, this is such a great alignment exercise is that you must engage all your muscles in order to stay on the imaginary straight line. This is the same principle as walking around with books on your head for balance. If you slump or look down, the books will fall.
It can take a bit of practice to walk this way, but you will soon see results and strengthen your core muscles as well as your joints in a safe, nonimpact way. You may need to keep your arms outstretched at first to keep your balance. Your goal is simply to walk in a straight line, head up, eyes forward, feeling strong and relaxed. Try to do this for at least twelve steps, six forward and six back, at least three times.
Once you’re better at it, try these heel-to-toe walking options:
Close your nondominant eye. If you’re right-handed, it’s your left, and vice versa.
Close your dominant eye.
Close both eyes (as long as you’re in a safe, enclosed space).
MORE ADVANCED:
Walk backward without turning your head to see where you’re going.
Add a hand weight to each hand and do a biceps curl with each step.
Alternate arms opposite to your legs (i.e., right leg, left arm).
Do the biceps curl with arms opposite to your legs and with your eyes closed.
Boost Your Brain and Body by Walking
Walking improves your balance, coordination, gait speed, muscle efficiency, postural alignment, physical strength, and proprioception.
STEP 1: MIND-SET
Visualize the walk you’re about to do for thirty seconds before you start: picture yourself having perfect postural and joint alignment, free-flowing energy, and physical strength. Say, “I am going to do my best. I know I can do it.” Breathe deeply. Concentrating on your breathing will help with your postural alignment, too.
STEP 2: ALWAYS STRETCH BEFORE YOU START
Stretching not only loosens you up but also sends a signal to your brain that you’re ready to start walking.
Stand tall, both legs wider than shoulder width apart, arms straight open at shoulder height.
Bend at the waist and drop your torso down so you can touch your knees, or farther if you can do so easily. If it’s more comfortable, you can bend your knees slightly to avoid locking the joint.
You should feel the stretch in the back of your legs.
Hold this position for ten seconds, and then stand up straight and open your arms to the side while looking straight ahead. Then look up at the ceiling and breathe deeply.
STEP 3: ENERGY BOOSTER: CLAP + BALANCE
You can do this exercise whenever you feel sluggish during the day, too. And it’s a great way to rev up your children.
From a semi-squat-plié position, with your arms down at your sides, clap between your legs.
Stand up, and then raise your heels while simultaneously raising your arms to clap overhead. Don’t forget to smile!
Reps: 10
Every count should be coordinated with a loud voice. You can count from one to ten or shout out positive ideas like “Let’s do it,” “We can do it,” and “Come on.”
Do your clapping with as much speed as possible.
STEP 4: WALKING CIRCUITS
1. Warm-up
Walk at light intensity, with the same speed as if you were walking home. Swing your arms in a coordinated manner: every time you take a step with your left leg, swing your right arm, and vice versa. (The more pronounced your swing, the more your heart rate and coordination will increase.) Concentrate on your posture. Stand tall, head erect, eyes focused forward. Do not look down.
Total time: 5 minutes
2. Interval Training 1
Circuit 1
Walk fast for 40 seconds, and then walk slower for 20 seconds.
When you walk fast, try to slightly increase your speed so you notice a significant difference between casual light walking and this speed. Faster walking will increase your heart rate and your muscle strength.
It’s very important to breathe accordingly—meaning: the faster you walk, the faster and more shallow your breathing.
Reps: 5
Total time: 5 minutes
Circuit 2a
Do an opposite arm and leg raise for 30 seconds
Walk briskly for 30 seconds.
Reps: 3
Total time: 3 minutes
Circuit 2b
Walk while playing catch with a ball small enough to fit in your pocket. Throw the ball into the air, clap once, and catch the ball. Then throw the ball again and clap twice.
Alternate 2a’s steps with 2b.
Repeat as many times as you can while maintaining proper postural alignment.
Total time: 3 minutes
Circuit 3
Walk fast for 30 seconds.
Stand tall, legs together, and then step to shoulder width with your left leg. Close up the step with your right leg and clap.
Reps: 10 starting with the left, then 10 starting with the right. Do this three times.
Total time: 4.5 minutes
3. Moderate Intensity Walk
Walk briskly, at moderate intensity. Concentrate on your posture. Stand tall, head erect, eyes focused forward. Do not look down.
Total time: 4.5 minutes
4. Interval Training 2
Circuit 1
With your arms completely extended in front of you, clap at head level while walking briskly.
Total time: 2 minutes
Circuit 2
Bring your arms up above your head and clap while walking.
Total time: 2 minutes
5. Cooldown and Stretching
Walk briskly for 5 minutes, gradually tapering down to the same light intensity you had during the warm-up. Your speed will decrease, and your breathing will become deeper and slower.
Stretch, as per the instructions in step 2 on page.
Standing tall, close your eyes and concentrate on your sense of accomplishment.
Focus on your breathing, making a mental note of in and out. Do this for at least 2 minutes, since it is wonderfully calming.
Walking for Fitness
In addition to my thrice-daily Super Body, Super Brain sessions, I always make the time to do at least three cardio workouts every week. One of the best cardio exercises you can do is walking. It’s low impact, it’s easy to master, and it can be done practically anywhere—outside at the beach or in a park, or inside at a mall if the weather’s bad. You can do it with friends, family, or even your dog (who needs the exercise too!).
Here’s what happens in your body in a thirty-minute circuit.
Minutes 1–5
When you walk, you’ll be using many different muscles in your legs, gluteus, core, arms, and shoulders.
Minute 6
Your stress hormones have increased in the bloodstream. These hormones are secreted from the adrenal gland, and their function is to help your cardiovascular system get blood, oxygen, and nutrients to your muscles and to make fat and glucose readily available to your muscles for energy production.
Minute 7
Low Intensity to Moderate Intensity: If you’re walking slowly, your heart rate will barely have increased. It will still be beating at an average of 30 to 50 percent of your maximum heart rate. (See the heart rate formulas on page.)
Moderate Intensity: Walking with some speed will raise your heart rate up to 50 percent of its maximum, bringing more blood to your muscles. That means that your lungs will need to process more oxygen for use throughout your entire body.
Equally important, this heart rate is what’s considered to be aerobic, which means your oxygen is constantly replenished in your working muscles.
A moderate heart rate is the ideal one, since you’ll burn more calories while strengthening your heart muscle, without overtaxing your body. And one of the main benefits of training in the aerobic range is that it triggers the metabolism of your stored fat.
High Intensity: You’ll be walking really fast, bringing your heart rate up to 75 percent of its maximum rate, which is when you’ll leave the aerobic frontier and move into the anaerobic (no oxygen) territory. As a result, you’ll be secreting more of the stress hormone cortisol and reducing your immune-cell functioning. This is not something I recommend during a fitness walk!
Minutes 8–9
If you’re working out at moderate intensity, which for me is the best way to go, by minute 8 you’ll see how efficient your entire motor system is. All your muscles will be perfectly coordinated, and your breathing will be strong and even.
If you are walking either too slowly or way too fast, it will be all too easy to forget your postural alignment, and you could tilt your neck forward, slacken your abdominal muscles as you arch your lower back, or pronate your ankles and/or knees (that is, turn or roll them inward).
Minutes 10–12
Ideally, you’ll be walking somewhere that isn’t perfectly flat. After all, not only is it more interesting to follow varied terrain, but going up and down hills works different muscles in your legs and core, too.
Having to walk up small inclines will slightly raise your heart rate and increase your blood circulation. At the same time, all your proprioceptors will keep on sending messages to your nervous system. If you’re walking outside, you might see other people engaged in a variety of activities, traffic flowing (and crazy drivers driving), runners or cyclists moving, dog walkers walking, and more. In response, you’re likely to vary your speed, which will also make your heart work well.
Minutes 13–14
You’re nearly halfway there, and this is getting close to the dividing line between those who are aerobically fit and those who aren’t quite used to this much exercise. Those who are beginners or who don’t do regular strength training, such as the Super Body, Super Brain exercises, will start to feel tired. So even though they’re determined to keep moving, they’ll compensate for their fatigue by adjusting their posture and losing some of their good alignment.
Those who are stronger and more fit will feel energized at this point and should have no difference in their posture or breathing rate.
Minutes 15–16
As with minute 13, walkers with powerful core strength will keep their pace and their form.
Minutes 17–19
At this part of the walk, when muscles start to experience fatigue, coordination becomes crucial. Inexperienced walkers will find it harder to maintain correct form; their upper body will move at a slower pace than their lower body.
Minutes 20–22
By minute 20, breathing patterns start to accelerate, even for experienced walkers. It’s very important to focus on keeping your form as perfect as possible. It’s better to slow down the pace a little while remaining posturally aligned than to rush and hunch forward.
Minutes 23–24
The rate and depth of your breathing continue to increase now. That’s because as your muscles require more oxygen, the metabolic by-products produced by your working muscles need to be removed via your lungs.
Minutes 25–27
As your walking workout nears its end, you should gradually start reducing its intensity. But that doesn’t mean you should slow down entirely. Ideally, you want to stay at a moderate intensity so you’re still working your muscles aerobically. The more your body moves, the more oxygen will be required, and the more calories you’ll burn.
Minutes 28–30
You should slow down for a few minutes, which will calm your heart rate and allow your breathing pattern to remain steady. You’re likely to feel very good as your body releases neurotransmitters like endorphins and serotonin, producing a mental state of well-being.
Be sure to keep moving for a few minutes, until your heart and breathing rate are back to normal. You want to give your body a chance to slow down gradually. Don’t forget to smile!