Walkers get ready; this is not your grandmother's workout! You want walking to be enough, right? Enough to change your body, keep you slim, and get you really fit? Well it is, and it will be for you, if you hit the hills.

Getting into the hills will help you:

  • Change your body

  • Condition your mind

  • Build a powerful constitution

    • Remember that walking, like any exercise, must be done as though you mean it!

    Walking in the hills will provide you, and your body, with the intensity needed for increasing lean muscle mass and cardiovascular strength at the same time.

    You'll get the resistance that you need to build strength and lean muscle mass in exceptional ways. You want lean and mean — you got it — let's get into the hills!

    No big investment required — but great returns... I want you to take yourself (and your walking pals, pups included) into the hills at least once a week for a really powerful training session.

    Here are a few great workouts:

    1. Find a hill in your neighbourhood and work it in intervals. For example, if the hill takes you two minutes to climb, climb it five times, with a five-minute fast walk on flat ground in between.

    Begin and end your interval hill training with five minutes of warm up in the flats and five minutes of cool down and you're done in just about 45 minutes. If you work the hills (and the fast flats) like you mean it, you should feel really 'done' in 45.

    2. Get on the treadmill and after a five-minute warm-up period take the incline up to five percent and walk for two minutes. Then, reduce the incline and walk (much) faster at two percent for two minutes.

    Repeat this interval hill work, increasing the hill by one percent each time, for five intervals.

    After you have completed five intervals, go back to five percent incline and walk really powerfully five minutes (this should feel good after being at higher inclines), then, walk much faster for five minutes at a two percent incline, then cool down.

    That ought to do it — in less than 45 minutes once a week.

    3. Find yourself a great hiking/walking trail and go for it — spend an hour or two (or more) ascending (and descending) the hills. This is a great weekend workout. Pack up the dog, grab a hiking pal, bring water, and take a cellphone (in case you tend to get lost like I do).

    Go to a local bike shop, go online, email a local walking club, and you will find maps, pamphlets, and great personal recommendations for safe and challenging walking/hiking trails in your area.

    This article is supplied by My Personal Trainer. For more information call 0861 00 6978 or click here.