What if you can't run? Try Steve Reeves Powerwalking!

[Greg Newton]

Thankfully, after nearly four years of training with the methods promoted here, I can run. However, that wasn't the case a few years ago. Also, that isn't the case for my wife who doesn't need the jarring or pounding of running. So what do you do for cardio-vascular exercise?

During Steve Reeves' ranching days, he made a discovery. On long rides with hs Morgan horses, he'd have to dismount and walk to give the horse a break. He found that by taking a long swining stride, swinging the arms, and rythmatically breathing, he could cover a great deal of distance in a relatively short period of time.

This isn't an arms bent, head thrust forward waddle like you see in some of these walking races, but a head erect, shoulders back, arms loose and swinging long, striding pace. There is also an emphasis on striding heel to toe.

Reeves wrote a book about this and even had the Marines interested at one time in using his concept. This is also described in his autobiography co-authored by John Little. The best part about it, is that it is relatively safe on the knees and back.

Yesterday, my wife and I got to the track for the first time in awhile. Her query was, "Aren't you going to run?" "No," I told her, I need to break in with powerwalking," to which she replied, "Crap, how am I supposed to break in if I have to keep up with you!"

It is more strenuous than it looks. The trick is keeping that long stride and swinging the arms long. Also it is important to keep the head up and shoulders back. This isn't the picture I was looking for of Reeves actually powerwalking, but it does emphasize the larger than life way Steve carried himself.

[stingray]

Greg,
I've started up running again. I've been alternating between just running 3-4 miles and doing the Powerflex Speed and Endurance workout. I used to run anywhere from 5-8 miles a day regularly and I started wondering about what I was doing to my knees. I like the idea of walking, but I find that I miss the intensity of running. I do walk to and from work regularly. Its about 1.5 miles each way. So, if I don't get in a run at least I have walked. I find the "Urban Ranger" analogy helpful on my daily walks. It elevates my simple walk to an adventure. Picture the character Strider from The Lord of the RIngs.

http://www.urbanranger.com/

[tom]

I remembered Reeves' Powerwalking with a picture of Reeves holding some dumbbells. I was going to post a caution against that part of it but you didn't mention it, so I won't. I may very well have remembered wrong, so let's not mention holding dumbbells. I'm certainly not going to.

Heavyhands, another walking protocol that looks sillier, does use dumbbells in active arm movements, not swinging. They are both good protocols, in case anyone wants to look into it.

Thanks for the post, and thanks for not mentioning dumbbells. Anywhere.

Tom

[Lori Newton]

Yesterday, my wife and I got to the track for the first time in awhile. Her query was, "Aren't you going to run?" "No," I told her, I need to break in with powerwalking," to which she replied, "Crap, how am I supposed to break in if I have to keep up with you!"

Yeah, you get to break in but I have to go in full force. Why is that? You also take a break from working out when you don't feel good. You don't give me that luxury!:loser:

love,

your wife

[Greg Newton]

Hi Tom and John A.,

The dumbbells were optional. Reeves also experiemented with using a weighted belt in the form of a cartridge belt. In my experience with the heavy hands with running in years gone by, the weights threw my stride off. However, I remember reading that Reeves felt that Dr. Schwartz had hijacked his idea without giving him credit when he created the heavy hands protocols.

To that person who shares my last name,

Isn't about time we started doing circuits of pushups, situps and hill climbers again? :devil:

[Lori Newton]

Believe me we do talk alot to each other but we also like to find humour in things we do .Makes life interesting,don't you think?:wink:

[Royce]

Yeah, you get to break in but I have to go in full force. Why is that? You also take a break from working out when you don't feel good. You don't give me that luxury!:loser:

love,

your wife

Thanks for your post, Lori,

I can identify with a lot of what you are saying. I’m not sure how much of what you wrote is tongue in cheek. But I can tell you that it can be difficult for people to walk together.

Personally, I am a lousy runner. Throughout my life I have tried to improve, but to no avail. When I was serving with the Marines one of the sergeants remarked during PT, “You’re not out of shape; you are just slow!” Yes, that summed up the situation nicely.

But I was blessed with the ability to march long distances with little duress. In point of fact, I don’t believe that there was anyone in the battalion who could walk distances better than me. After my military service, I still continued to walk for enjoyment. For a good many years I had Border Collie, and, like most dogs, she absolutely loved to go for very long walks. And I was very happy to oblige. But after she died, I largely, curtailed my walking.

But two years ago, my wife and I determined that we would start walking together each day at a local, high school track. Initially, it seemed like a great idea.

Unfortunately, my wife isn’t especially blessed as either a walker or runner. Although she is in good condition, her conditioning didn’t/doesn’t translate into performance on the track.

Even when I was endeavoring to really hold back, I was going much too fast for her. Although she encouraged me to go ahead at my own pace, I didn’t since it took a most of the enjoyment out of being at the track with her. We stuck with the walking for the summer, but then moved on to other things.

[dynogoalie30]

Thank you, Greg, for the powerwalk post, I have always wondered how the Steve Reeves powerwalking method worked, I was running for 25 yrs. and about 2 yrs. ago my knees started to bother me, I started brisk walking, which I found here on this site, and I really enjoy it, I was wondering if the powerwalking book can be purchased anywhere? I would like to buy a copy, thank you again Greg, for the information.

[Huskerdarren]

Dynogoalie, I found a copy on Ebay for $12. It seems like a good price. People are asking for over $100 on Amazon. It must be hard to find overall.

[dynogoalie30]

Thanks Huskerdarren for the information, I will check it out, Greg, one question, what are hillclimbers? are they like mountain climbers?

[gruntbrain]

As usual, I'll suggest heartrate monitoring while walking( at least initially). With or without carrying stuff, exaggerated arm swings/punches should sufficiently elevate your heartrate. Also, add some upperbody DSRs(hand clasps) to elevate your heartrate while performing your cardio walks

[Greg Newton]

Dyno,

Hill Climbers and Mountain Climbers are the same. Also, the Reeves bio co-authored with John Little has a whole chapter devoted to Powerwalking and I think it is still in print.

Also Sting,

Aragon was my favorite character when I read Lord of the Rings as a teen. As an adult I couldn't get into the movies. I much prefered the Ralp Bashki (sp?) animated cartoon.

[MikeNY]

Power Walking is the tops, and in the winter you can do it in a Mall and enjoy the views. Steve Reeves got "busted up weight lifter's syndrome" in a bad way, he used Power Walking to stay in shape. Hate to run or have bad knee's, use Power Walking, this fits into Transformetrics like a glove, perfect fit!

Greg we know your the boss in the family, just ask Lori to be sure :laugh:

[tom]

Heavyhands wasn't stolen from Powerwalking - it is just a continuum of walk-based exercise. They are both great. Heavyhands puts the verticality aspect of it.

Swinging weights does little for anything except, my own suspicion, it maybe hurts the joints. I strongly suggest making Powerwalking non-weight-bearing. Weights swinging on the end of limbs unbalances the joints, wears on them, and backpacks are crushifying. Walk free!

Or dance, which is what Heavyhands is. In public, down the street, although you could adapt it to inhouse too, I suppose.

Tom

[gruntbrain]

In these troublin' times, it's prudent to weaponize while walking; walk softlyswiftly & swing a big "stick"

[Greg Newton]

Hi Tom,

The Steve Reeves autobiography written with John Little can be purchased through the Steve Reeves International Society for $34. Even though it focuses on his weight training, it is still a worthwhile read.

[kelbiz]

Steve Reeves covers the whole Powerwalking routine in one chapter of his book "Building a Classic Physique the Natural Way". It's amazingly simple, just requires dedication. (Much like pushups!)

He truly was one in a million and will not likely be forgotten!

He states in his book that he only lifted weights for a month or two during his film career. His busy schedule allowed only for that limited training time, yet he was able to maintain it for the rest of the year.

I ran into Mr. Olympia Larry Scott at a health convention in Florida the summer following Steve Reeves' death and mentioned what a loss it was to Larry. Larry said that Steve was absolutely in a class by himself.

The anniversary of his passing is May 1. (He died in 2000)

Jack

[francisxavier]

Despite the herniated disk I still walk every day. At first I was only able to walk with walking stick, and could not straighten my right leg, so I would try to use small, quick steps. Now I am able to walk without stick and take long strides, so I find this is good exercise as my back is still not up to the pounding it gets from running. Maybe it is, but I am not trying that until I get okay from doctor. However from reading this forum and other articles about power walking, I think maybe this would be better for someone like me than running. However, as I sometimes walk in the city I do not really want to carry dumbbells around with me. Do you think wrist weights would be better? Or maybe just skip the weights altogether?

[tom]

Don't carry dumbbells unless you are going to do a heavy hands thing. Heavy Hands is not so much walking as it is dancing along waving very light dumbbells. Light = 1,2,3 lbs.

Tom

[Greg Newton]

My personal opinion is that you don't need the weights or extra weight in the way of a belt or vest. Power Striding is a fantastic exercise for overall conditioning and flexibility. It is especially valuable to those who have injury to the lower back and knees. It is also a "FEEL GOOD" exercise, giving you a feeling of well-being afterwards.

[MikeNY]

Home Bodybuilding by Robert Wolff talks about the development of Powerwalking by Steeve Reeves and recommends it, in chapter Ten. Has about three pages in a how to section on powerwalking. Wolff cowrote a book about Steve Reeves. It is sometimes available new at Amazon for $4 but not right now, I just checked, they want $18.45 plus shipping today. Powerwalking is great exercise and low impact on the joints, this is one great allternative to running or jogging.

In High School my dog would run with me, he loved it, and literally ran circles around me enjoying his run.

[gruntbrain]

It's interesting Dr Len, Mr HeavyHands, advocates upper body DSRs(with clasped hands perform a variety of resistance exercises) while walking fast. Heart rate monitoring will verify the effectiveness of this approach. Of course, it'd be wise to alternate between the DSRs & exaggerated arm swings during the walk; even throw air punches to keep the dangerous woman away

[tom]

Very roughly, heavy hands is to powerwalking what calisthentics are to isometrics. They are both great. As Grunt usually suggests: do both.

Grunt, I haven't found, or looked for, any recent articles in which Dr. Len wrote about or demonstrated the hand clasping. Do you have links? I like the clasping idea, and it doesn't look so goofy for those of us don't want our womens to run away.

Tom

[francisxavier]

Thanks for the information. I tried this powerwalking again today without weights and was great. Is the hand clasping thing you are talking about here isometrics? As far as elevating the heart rate, that is almost impossible for me to do very well since I take beta blocker for tachycardia and my heart rate doesn,t get very high even if I run as fast as I can.

[DT man]

I posted this many years ago here, utilizing DVR techniques to the walk. The arms and legs can be tensed as though weight were attached as you walk vigorously for several miles. The minimum I recommend is a twenty minute DVR Powerwalk. I used it to build my legs up for a 100 mile bike ride I did that year. The leg development was fantastic and few programs I tried equalled it. Reeves started his program later in life when his BWS caught up with him and he could no longer lift. He attained new fitness levels with this program, as well as horseback riding. Although Reeves was an asthetically great bodybuilder, his weight training left him clumsy and awkward as film clips during his bodybuilding years attest. After adopting this type training and horseback riding, still photos depict a more graceful and agile Reeves. Heavyhands came after this and although a good training modality, you did look ridiculous doing it in public. For my money, however, running, done properly is the supreme condtioner to compliment Transformetric training. John, Atlas and others have used it as the base of their training and achieved great results. But not everyone can do it. Overweight and or unconditioned people as well as though suffering from BWS, can use DVR Powerwalking as an alternative, and achieve good results.

[gruntbrain]

Tom
The Purposeful Prmitive has some Dr Len materials many of which are compatible with Transformetrics

There are certainly many ways to make walks purposely & desirably inefficient(elevated heartrate) with or without swingin' & swayin' weighted objects . Who the heck cares what onlookers think unless they're cops?

[francisxavier]

Thanks I will try this DVR method, although due to the disk problem I have leg pain at night and perhaps tensing my leg muscles might make this worse, but perhaps not so I will give it a try. Sometimes when it is too hot outside I walk in place in the house by lifting my legs as high as I can and this seems to work okay as far as making heart rate faster.

[gruntbrain]

Thumbs up for high stepping. High stepping is yet another way to convert an ordinary walk inot an inefficient, heart pounding one. As a bonus, the full ROM knee lifts are a healthy hip joint exercize. Add in a variety of arm swings while stepping in place or on the go; your heart will love the extra stimulation

[Greg Newton]

You can try Amazon. It has been out of print since the eighties. It is also probably a collector's item. I never had a copy. I only read articles by Reeves and his biography by John Little, which had a chapter on power walking. The Little book is still in print.

By the way, there has been some discussion about Heavy Hands. Reeves in an eighties article in Muscle Mag International said that he felt the doctor who created Heavy Hands ripped him off without giving him credit for inventing Power Walking.

[Greg Newton]

Hi Cayenne,

Your are right. I am just reporting what Reeves said. There was enough of a similarity in the approaches for Reeves to feel that he'd been copied without credit, whether that assertion was justified or unjustified.

[MikeNY]

A seller on amazon is selling a new copy as used for $3.93 plus shipping (may have a remainder mark) of Home Bodybuilding: Three Easy Steps to Building Your Body and Changing Your Life by Robert Wolff. This book contains instructions on Steve Reeves Powerwalking and talks about it's development. All you guys that are looking this is a good price.