About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Get walking with this 12-week walking schedule
By Mayo Clinic staffAre you looking to ease into getting in shape? This 12-week walking schedule from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute can start you on the path to better fitness and health. Before starting this walking plan, talk with your doctor if you've been sedentary for a long time or you have serious health issues.
Try to walk at least five times each week. Always start with a five-minute, slower paced walk to warm up, and end with a five-minute, slower paced walk to cool down.
As you become more fit, you'll want to add strength training exercises, such as push-ups and lunges, to your routine to meet the physical activity level recommended for healthy adults:
- At least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity — or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity — a week
- Strength training exercises at least twice a week
| Week | Warm-up | Brisk walking | Cool-down |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 minutes | 5 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 2 | 5 minutes | 7 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 3 | 5 minutes | 9 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 4 | 5 minutes | 11 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 5 | 5 minutes | 13 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 6 | 5 minutes | 15 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 7 | 5 minutes | 18 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 8 | 5 minutes | 20 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 9 | 5 minutes | 23 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 10 | 5 minutes | 26 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 11 | 5 minutes | 28 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 12 | 5 minutes | 30 minutes | 5 minutes |
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006
- Your guide to physical activity and your heart. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/phy_active.pdf. Accessed Sept. 28, 2010.
- 2008 physical activity guidelines for Americans. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/pdf/paguide.pdf. Accessed Sept. 28, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on