Fitness Friday #1: Long Walks & Apps!

Hello there and welcome to my first Fitness Friday blog post!

This is a new series born out of my desire and goal to become fitter, healthier, stronger and slimmer! Every Friday I will sharing with you my tips and tricks that I've picked up to really boost the benefits from a healthy lifestyle.

Kick starting this series is a post all about how you can visually see how a long walk can help you burn those calories!

Living in London it can be difficult to find 'peace and quiet'. I hear ambulance sirens and people shouting all hours of the day. With all that rustling and bustling, complete relaxation is a near off impossibility, making me a recluse with my laptop permanently attached to me. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that this is not healthy nor am I losing weight.

I did some browsing on Google Maps (as you do) and found there was a huge park about 10 minutes from me so I decided to devise a 2 mile walk that I could track on my phone and keep track of calories lost.

I downloaded this rather nifty little app from the App Store called 'MapMyWalk' and the first thing I noticed about it is that the interface is very similar to Facebook. Therefore it is really easy to get used to as you can like and comment your friends progress. 

Image from Google Images

To start, you simply click 'Record my workout' then 'Start Workout' and a map of your location will be shown. As you walk, the app will create route line calculating your distance, pace and calories burned. 

On my first walk, I clocked a distance of 3.32km in just under 40 mins burning 134 calories. It was also quite humid that day with very little of a breeze so I sweated quite a bit (sexy, I know). I felt awesome afterwards because it was a relaxed type of exercise where I wasn't staring at the timer on a treadmill, but the nature around me. 

Here are a few snaps I took whilst on my walk. I just fell back in love with the colour green!

Another feature I really like on this app is that you can pause and resume your workout if you stop to have a sit down in the sun or chat to someone. 

I'd highly recommend this app if you are looking for a great exercise if you are away from your gym or in the countryside but don't want to get lost! It's also great if you are not into very rigorous exercise but still want to keep fit and get your blood pumping. 

Do you use any other apps to record your fitness or eating? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading and check back next Friday for another Fitness Friday post!