8km Walking Program
If you want to walk the 8km event to help fund essential breast cancer research then this
program is for you! It’s designed to help you walk the 8km at a steady speed, without feeling
out of breath. It’s also good for people who regularly walk 2km.
These exercises are taken from Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation (12WBT)
Exercise Index and will get you race ready. If you want to set new goals, lose weight, eat better,
go from walking to running or just feel healthier head to 12WBT.com and join the team!
Program Components
Walk
Strength and Stability work
Stretches
These are your long walks, where
you map out your distance using
www.mapmyrun.com or a GPS
watch to track how far you go.
You will be building up your distance
gradually over the 10 weeks.
These are specific exercises designed
to strengthen your running muscles
to prevent injury and enhance
performance. These exercises will
remain the same throughout the 10
weeks, you can make them harder by
going slower, as this increases the time
your muscles are under load.
These should be done at the end of
every session and can also be done
every day to prevent soreness, niggles
or injuries. Make sure you do these five
simple stretches after you train.
Varied Cardio
These sessions are designed to keep
increasing your fitness levels while
giving your joints and walking muscles
a rest. Varied cardio can include:
Cycling, swimming, the X-trainer, rowing
machine or any low impact activity that
raises your heart rate and a sweat.
Core and Stretch
This day is dedicated to strengthening
your core and stretching all those
muscles that may have stiffened
up over the week. It’s imperative to
strengthen all the little stabilizing
muscles around your joints as this
prevents injury and makes you a much
more efficient walker. This is a very
important day most people forget.
Make sure you don’t!
12WBT Tip
When you’re going for a
walk really pump your arms
to help speed you up to
a POWER-walk! Then find
some hills to march up!
12WBT.com
8km Walking Program
Program
Program
This is an outline of your training schedule for the 10 weeks leading up to the big day.
It’s a five-day program starting with a Long Walk, so spread your sessions out over the week.
Week Walk 1
Varied Cardio
Strength & Stability Work
Walk 2
Core and Stretch
1
2km
20 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
2km
Core & Stretch routine
2
3km
20 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
3km
Core & Stretch routine
3
4km
30 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
4km
Core & Stretch routine
4
5km
30 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
5km
Core & Stretch routine
5
6km
40 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
6km
Core & Stretch routine
6
6km
40 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
6km
Core & Stretch routine
7
7km
50 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
7km
Core & Stretch routine
8
8km
50 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
8km
Core & Stretch routine
9
8km
60 mins
Hip raises, lunges, squats, clams, core rotations
8km
Core & Stretch routine
10
5km
30 mins
Rest Day
Stretch only
RACE DAY!
Strength and
Stability
Complete
one circuit of
the following
exercises, if you
feel confident try
a second or even
a third round
as you as feel
stronger through
the weeks.
1. Hip Raises on Ground
4. Clams
Lie on your back with your palms facing down and knees bent.
Peel your lower back off the floor, starting by tucking your butt
under, then raising your lower to upper back off the floor. Lying face down with your forehead resting on your hands,
separate your knees as wide as possible and lift your lower legs
off the ground until your feet touch.
Try 12 repetitions of these exercise, squeeze your butt at the top
and hold for five seconds if you can!
Whilst firmly pressing your feet together, attempt to lift your
knees off the ground by squeezing your butt.
Try to hold every rep for five seconds! Then attempt 12 reps.
2. Lunges
Stand tall, pull your abs in and lift your chest, shoulders back and
down. Keep your neck long, your chin in slightly and look straight
ahead.
Take a long step forward keeping your feet a hip width apart and
plant your front foot firmly on the ground.
Powerfully push off your front foot to get you back to the start
position. Alternate legs, try doing 12 reps each side, keeping your
back straight.
5. Core Rotations
Keep your chest up, ears over shoulders and chin slightly drawn
in to lengthen the back of your neck. Draw your belly button in
and hold that long, engaged torso position as you interlace your
hands at your belly button.
Twist your upper body, including your head to the left until your
elbow just about touches the ground. Then twist the other way.
A twist to the left then right counts as 1 rep. Do 12 reps. This is a
fast movement, each twist should take one second, no slower.
Lean back with a straight back until you find the “sweet spot”
that point when your abs really kick in.
3. Squats
12WBT Tip
Make sure you’re doing
each exercise slowly and
focus on the muscles
you’re using to get the
most benefits out of this.
Imagine you are about to take a seat. Inhale as you bend your
legs keeping the centre of your knee lined up with the centre of
your shoe. Lower your hips until your thighs are almost parallel
to the floor. Exhale as you push through your heels and squeezing your butt,
return to the starting position without locking out your knees.
Try doing 12 of these bad boys.
12WBT.com
8km Walking Program
Core and
Stretch
Warm-up with five
minutes of light
jogging.
Do 2-3 rounds
of the following
circuit.
1. Aeroplanes
4. Side Plank
Lie on your stomach with both arms stretched out to either side
and slowly lift your upper body off the floor. Tilt your body to one
side as if you’re a plane tipping its wing, reset to centre, inhale
and lower back down to the floor. Repeat on the opposite side.
Do 12 reps each side.
ie on your side, and ‘stack’ your shoulders, hips, knees and feet
L
perpendicular to the floor.
ush your hip up off the floor so your body is in a straight line
P
from your knees to your head. Extend your other arm straight up
to the roof to help you open up your chest. Knees should be bent
at 90 degrees.
ry building up to one minute on your knees before attempting
T
them on your toes.
2. Child’s Pose
5. Lower Body Twist
Slide your hips back onto your feet leaving the arms extended in
front and lower your shoulders into the pose known in yoga as
the “Child’s Pose”. Hold for a count of 30 seconds.
ie on your back and lift your legs above you, keeping your knees
L
bent 90 degrees and directly over your hips.
3. Plank on Knees or Toes
lue your legs and feet together. Inhale as you slowly lower both
G
legs to one side.
xhale as you slowly drag the legs back to centre using your core
E
muscles to do all the work. Repeat on the other side. Twist to
each side 12 times.
Place your elbows directly under your shoulders and avoid
hunching them towards your ears. Lengthen your neck, pull your
chin in, and look at your hands.
Your body should be like a plank of wood, so keep your hips lower
than your shoulders and your abs pulled up.
Keeping your body in alignment continue breathing steadily
and easily. Try building up to one minute on your knees before
attempting them on your toes. If you can do these for two
minutes on your toes consider yourself a legend!
Five Key
Stretches
1. Hip Flexor
2. Calf Stretch
Tuck your pelvis and
bottom underneath you
as much as possible.
This will give you a
stretch along the front
of your hip (on the back
leg). For a more intense
stretch, lower down
more by bending both
knees. Reach the same
arm as your bottom
leg, up to the ceiling.
For a more intense
stretch, lean your body
over towards your top
leg (make sure you are
still keeping your chest
lifted and keep actively
stretching out of
your fingertips).
Stand with one foot
behind you with a
straight leg, and bend
into the front leg. Keep
the back leg straight to
feel the stretch in the
calf muscle.
3. Quadriceps
12WBT Tip
Make sure you engage
your core and pelvic floor
before and during each
exercise. This contraction
will help take impact
stress off your spine.
4. Hamstrings
5. Glutes
There are only five of
them so make sure
you hold each stretch
twice for a count of 30
seconds, 60 if you’re
feeling stiff.
If you are prone to
cramping you can do
these stretches before
you train, but you must
do them after each
training session to
prevent muscle stiffness
and strains.
Stand up, and curl your
leg behind you. Grab it
with one hand, keeping
your knees together.
Gently pull your foot
into your butt. Stand
tall, draw your abs in
and pull your shoulders
back and down,
elevating your chest.
Think about tucking
your tailbone under to
get more of a stretch.
Keeping one leg bent,
gather the other one
towards you and
clasping your hands
behind your knee
lift it up and point it
to the ceiling or sky.
Keep it slightly bent
and flex your foot, you
should feel the stretch
in the “belly” of your
hamstring. You can use
a towel, wrap it around
your leg or shoe and
gently pull your leg up
towards you.
Bring one leg up into a
right angle and leaving
your foot on the floor,
cross the other leg over
it. Use your hand to
gently press the knee
away to open the hip.
To get more out of the
stretch, reach through
and lace your fingers
together behind your
leg, then gently pull
both legs towards you. 12WBT.com