Feature

The wonder of walking

Joanna Hall is a diet and movement expert who regularly appears on TV advising on health and fitness matters. She believes that if you want to shape up and get fit this year, walking is the way forward. She speaks to Ali Kirker about her special technique that promises results.

Your website says you can lose up to 10 lbs and 10 inches in under a month using your Walkactive technique. Sounds great — but what do you have to do to get these results?

It’s based on my 28 Day Walk Off Weight programme. Results are all about something being achievable and sustainable. It’s a programme of daily walking targets, and operating my daily carb curfew — that’s no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes or cereal after 5 pm. Walking is highly effective due to the Walkactive technique, which you can learn on one of my courses.

Can you tell us a bit about the actual technique — what makes it different from a normal stroll?

It helps clients to get correct postural alignment and through this they use the correct muscles, which means they get effective body toning and health giving benefits with each step they take. You can burn fat, re-shape the body, lift the bottom, whittle the waist and increase fitness and health. All our events and techniques also have a clinical base and have been designed around research. For example, one of our events is 7 km, as walking this distance once a week has been shown to reduce dependency on medication for high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes by up to 43%.

Is walking as good an exercise as, say, running or cycling, even though many people think it’s less strenuous and burns fewer calories?

In my opinion if you use Walkactive it’s better — your posture will improve, you’ll have less impact on your joints and great tone benefits, especially through the thighs, hips and bottom. It can take inches off your waistline — quite regularly in four weeks we have clients losing two or three inches off their waistline. We’ve had letters of endorsement from orthopaedic surgeons to gynaecologists. Quite simply you can do it at any age, any stage and any phase of your life and get real results!

How did you became so interested in health and fitness?

I always wanted to be involved with health, fitness and diet and won a scholarship through the English Speaking Union when I was 17, to spend a year at Bishop’s College School in Canada. It was an amazing experience and I really loved how they incorporated health and movement into so many aspects of their culture. Then after my first degree when I completed my Sports Medicine Internship in Seattle I was totally convinced this was what I wanted to do and how I wanted to work with people, to encourage them to enjoy the love of movement and energy through activity and what we eat.

In what ways can you build more activity into your everyday life?

I suggest you try to work out how active you really are. Studies show people often over-estimate how much they move by 40%.

Break your day into four-hour blocks and aim to walk 1000–2000 steps in each block. Try to get some walking in before a meeting or first thing in the morning, as studies show people are more likely to still be exercising six months down the line if they exercise in the morning.

Stop thinking “I always need to have 30 minutes to do exercise before it will do me any good” — just move! Build it into your everyday life.

Do you always practise what you preach and live a life completely free of vices like chocolate, stodge and wine?

I do practise what I preach. Life is too short and with correct technique and approach to your whole diet and lifestyle it becomes a win-win situation for your mind, your body and your overall wellbeing.

Can you imagine a life without exercise?

I have to say it is a big part of my life. But I have never been a gym bunny. I don’t even have a gym membership — but I do feel there is real joy in the love of movement and we can all benefit from this. It’s so good for us. Just try exercising if you’re stressed or in a bad mood. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel.

Some of us are total couch potatoes. What would you say to get us moving?

It’s never too late to start and completely challenge the way you traditionally think about exercise — just five minutes walking with great technique can be so beneficial. Many people are put off by the gym because it can be costly or intimidating if you have a lot of weight to lose, or they simply can’t find the time. Rather than taking three whole hours across a week to exercise, walking can be slotted in around your daily activity and in small bouts and, with the right technique, be just as, if not more effective. My top tip, though, is to be consistent as it’s the consistent efforts that make the difference.

Apart from improving your fitness levels and shape, what other benefits are there to being more active?

Time to think and maybe a time for yourself — particularly good for mums. It’s definitely anti-ageing, especially when your technique is good. And you sleep so much better — poor sleep is a real killer — so getting more exercise to enjoy better sleep is a major incentive for many.

If you weren’t a health and fitness expert, what would you be doing?

Gosh, I really don’t know — but it would definitely involve being outside. I can get very twitchy being stuck indoors!

www.joannahall.com

Walkabout

Celebrities who don their trainers and go walking.

“I find walking a real stress-buster, especially when I’m with friends and we can have a big catch-up and chat all the way. You hardly notice you’re exercising.” — Lorraine Kelly.

“I never go near a gym — but love walking long distances. It’s great for 
keeping fit and de-stressing, too.” — TV presenter Konnie Huq.

“Walking is for everyone. Young, old, groups, singles, city, country, you name it. It’s fantastic exercise — great for your heart and lungs and for toning you up.” — TV presenter Julia Bradbury, who’s such a walking fan she’s now President of Ramblers, a walking association.

“I love walking along the beach at my house in Malibu. Walking through sand is the best toner there is.” — Jennifer Aniston.

“I try to keep fit by doing yoga, but I love a long walk, too. It’s such good exercise and really helps you to tone up without even realising it.” — EastEnders star Glynis Barber.