Fast forward: turn your everyday stroll into a cardio blast with these racewalking basics - race-walking instructor Fran Bustos

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, June, 2002 by Carrie Curtis

The sun is noticeably missing behind thick clouds on this rare dreary afternoon in Los Angeles. Rare as well is the petite, fit woman in electric-blue stretch pants and a shiny windbreaker racewalking away from me in a fluid, beautiful dance. She's standing next to me one minute, then floating away in fast-forward the next with her brown braid barely swaying. When she racewalks, her hips swivel, her arms swing, controlled and close by her sides, and her feet lay themselves down one in front of the other in double time until she's far away from me, halfway down the damp cement trail. She tums and is back by my side in moments.

I'm out of doors on this chilly Southern California day to get a lesson in the basics of racewalking from this electric-blue woman, Fran Bustos. She's a race-walking instructor who bubbles with enthusiasm, armed with clever similes and a rigid attitude about ingraining proper technique. Racewalking, she explains, is a great form of exercise because it forces people to connect with their bodies and learn to control and use their muscles, and avoid beating on their joints. Bustos has deepened her love of racewalking with a career that has included competing at the Nationals and the Olympic trials. She still hopes to one day compete in the Olympics, but in the meantime, she enjoys helping others discover and benefit from this amazing sport.

speedy

endeavors

Racewalking is neither a fast walk nor a slow run, but a sport altogether unique with its own rewards. Just ask Michelle Rohl, who has been racewalking for more than a decade and has competed on the National and Olympic levels. She points out that because there is no "flight phase" as in running, racewalking is less efficient so your body expends more energy covering the same amount of miles--good news for someone trying to bum calories and shed pounds.

Rohl, a 36-year-old mother of three with another baby on the way, has experienced the specific benefits that racewalking offers women. She has continued to racewalk, to a varying degree, through all of her pregnancies. It's a wonderful way to get back in shape after pregnancy, she says: "All of the abdominal and back muscles that get weak during pregnancy firm right back up." This may come as a shock, but the two main muscle groups used while racewalking are the abdominal and glute muscles.

Bustos agrees: Racewalking is a great calorie-burner that really works your muscles--glutes, quads, shins and calves--and it's a very balanced sport when done correctly. She compares racewalking to bodysculpting because of the reliance on muscles to keep correct form, and she stresses the importance of learning how to use your muscles instead of your joints for successful racewalking. "If you tighten the glutes and abs to the degree necessary, they act like a girdle. This girdle will support your joints," she notes.

With good technique, not only is the sport graceful but it's fast: Bustos reports that her 10k competitive pace is 7:47 minutes per mile, and she can get down to 6:30 during her workouts. Rohl is even faster in competition, with a pace of 6:57 minutes per mile. Her pace is so fast, she boasts it can beat 65% of runners in a 10k. Now that's speed!

get ready...

Knowing the rules for competitive racewalking can keep you mindful of form once it's time Ear you to hit the pavement. Rohl says they're simpler than you might expect. "One: Your knee must be straight when your root makes contact with the ground in front of you, and must remain straight until it passes under your body Two: You always have to he in contact with the ground [as opposed to running, where you're airborne in the middle of your stride]." Besides this, everything is simply technique to prevent injury, to get in the best shape possible and to attain speed.

Within the fairly straightforward rules of competitive racewalking, there's a lot of leeway for technique. The correct body position is something of a matter of opinion. For Bustos, good form includes a tucked tailbone and a flat back. "What you should feel are your buns as well as your abdominal muscles holding you in an upright position," she explains. This is important, she says, because you move more fluidly if you have all your bodyparts lined up.

Proper arm position is crucial, as well. Your arms should be bent at a comfortable angle, with hands in loose fists and below the belly button. "The fist, when the arm swings backward, should be at the glutes. When the arm swings forward, the elbow is at the hip," instructs Bustos. This should be a very small motion. You want to stay on a parallel track, like a cross-country skier. When you move forward while racewalking, your arms should swing in opposition to your legs.

get set...

Now that you're inspired by what this little-known sport has to offer, you're ready to learn how to racewalk. The following steps are condensed from the two-hour lesson I took from Bustos. Remember, she represents only one method of racewalking. She suggests that anyone who loves the feel of the activity should improve by enlisting the help of a racewalking coach.