Ok - found it! It's from Good Housekeeping Magazine. It's actually a daily walking plan but I might only manage it realistically x4 per week. I'll have to see how it goes.
Here's the plan I used for part of last year before I fell off the wagon (work and family reasons). I found it really effective!
There are two levels: entry and advanced. I will be back at entry level!!
www.allaboutyou.com/diet-wellbeing/walking-plan-introduction/v1
All the info is there but the pages containing weeks 1-8 are out of order in the article, so just scroll down to it. It is a 24 week plan initially.
If you decide to go with this particular plan and if you are using a pedometer you could establish your baseline number of steps per day by keeping track of your steps each day this w/e (usually done over 3-day period) and take the top number as your start baseline.
We also need to complete the fitness walking test:
"Monitor your progress by recording your heart rate and the length of time it takes you to complete a short walk. As you get fitter, you will walk faster and your heart rate will fall. Test yourself over a quarter kilometre if you're doing the entry-level programme or over half a kilometre if you're at the advanced level. If you don't know the exact distances, simply find a route to test yourself over, and always repeat the test over the same route." More info about this test is in the article.
Here's week one:
Find your optimum walking pace (OWP)
Start walking and gradually pick up speed until you feel you need to jog. This is your breakpoint. From that point, reduce your pace by 3-5% - this is your optimum walking pace. You should feel as if you are walking at a much faster pace than normal. Check it with a ?talk test'. If you are walking slowly enough to have a conversation, you're probably walking too slowly. If you're gasping for air, slow down.
WEEK 1
Entry level Aim to make the number of steps you walk each day equal to or above the highest steps/day value you obtained during your baseline countdown. So if your highest daily step value was 3,590, do at least 3,590 steps each day in week one. Walking more is a bonus.
No pedometer (NP) Walk for 10 mins a day on top of your normal activity, broken into two bouts of 5 mins if necessary.
Advanced level Aim to add 2,000 steps to your baseline on five out of seven days.
No pedometer Walk for 20 mins continuously on top of your normal daily activity on five out of seven days.
All of this honestly sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is I promise!!
Also - no need to follow this particular plan if you don't want to - walking 10,000 steps a day/or 35-50 mins x 3 or 4 a week would be great too.
Do you want to start together or follow plans individually?
PS Please ignore what I said about walking at a pace that enables you to have a conversation - that is too slow apparently!!