Having a Ball Walking Tall in the Mall

Six mornings a week, Dorothy Miller shows up at the Buena Park Mall at 7 a.m., three hours before the stores open.

No, she’s not the world’s most devoted shopper trying to be first in line for bargains. Miller is a mall-walker, one of a growing number of Americans who are using the climate-controlled corridors of shopping malls for a purpose their builders never dreamed of: exercise.

Not that shopping itself doesn’t involve plenty of exercise: hiking in from the parking lot, sprinting from aisle to aisle, flexing elbows at crowded bargain tables and lifting heavy bags full of merchandise. But while that kind of exercise may be exhausting, it’s not going to get you into shape. For that, you need regular, sustained, aerobic exercise, such as walking.

So the mall and La Palma Intercommunity Hospital have teamed up to promote the “Walk Our Way” (WOW) program. The mall contributes to the program not only by opening its doors to walkers from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. daily, but by offering gift certificates, T-shirts and other prizes to participants. The hospital administers the program, keeping track of the number of miles walked and offering information, special events and other support to the walkers.

Miller walks three miles on each of her morning mall visits, and she covers that ground so quickly that she barely has time to glance at the storefronts she passes. She has to walk briskly--and without stopping--in order to bring her pulse rate up and keep it up for a sustained period. Cardiologists and exercise experts say that that is necessary to burn fat and improve cardiovascular fitness.

“They say walking is the most natural exercise in the world,” Miller says. “There isn’t much risk of injury, and you don’t need special clothes, other than good walking shoes.”

Three mornings a week, Miller is joined in her mall walks by two of her Anaheim neighbors, Myra Rilpel and Goldie Schiessl. The three women say they could just walk around the neighborhood, but they prefer the mall because “it’s more interesting. You see different things here all the time. They’re always changing the displays,” Miller says.

The women also say they feel safe in the mall--security guards are walking around, too, albeit not as fast--and they like the fact that it’s climate-controlled. That’s not so important here as it is in other parts of the country, where rain, snow and extreme temperatures can make regular outdoor walking difficult. In fact, the mall-walking trend first showed up back East, then made its way West.

Although some mall-walkers get their exercise during regular business hours, Miller and her friends say they prefer the early morning because “we could never walk this fast if the stores were open and there were people around.”

The women have formed a support group for each other. They car-pool to the mall, taking turns driving. “Sometimes you just want to go back to sleep in the morning,” Schiessl says, “But you know they’re going to be going, so you get up.”

C.W. Elliott of Buena Park walks two miles in the mall every day, and has logged more than 2,500 miles. Last year, when he passed the 2,000-mile mark, he received a $100 gift certificate from the mall. His wife, Vera, accompanies him on many days and has earned her 1,000-mile trophy.

When the 78-year-old great-grandfather started walking two years ago, however, he had trouble getting from his car to the mall because of the poor circulation in his legs. Now his health has improved so much that he has no trouble keeping a brisk pace, he says.

Signs are posted throughout the mall to indicate mileage. It’s about half a mile around each of the mall’s two levels.

The hospital’s community education department recommends checking with a physician before beginning a walking program to make sure that the exercise will be safe for you. You’ll need good walking shoes, with thick, flat, flexible soles. Don’t walk for two hours after eating a full meal, and wait 20 minutes after walking before eating.

Take your pulse before you start--most people have a resting heart rate of between 60 and 75 beats per minute. Determine your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. For maximum cardiovascular fitness, you should exercise at 60% to 75% of your maximum heart rate and work up to 80%. Always spend the first and last five minutes walking slowly.

The hospital recommends walking at least three times per week. You can begin with a short 15-minute walk--that’s five minutes of slow walking, five more minutes of brisk walking followed by five minutes of slow walking--and work up to a 40-minute walk over a 12-week period.

For more information about the WOW program, call (714) 670-6050.

Other Orange County malls also offer walking programs.

At the Brea Mall, “Club Ped,” sponsored by St. Jude Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, meets daily at 9 a.m. A physical therapist from the hospital is available on Mondays and Thursdays to answer questions. For more information, call (714) 992-3000.

Huntington Center Mall is in the process of starting a program, but meanwhile walkers are welcome beginning at 7 a.m. Call (714) 897-2533 to find out more about the program, co-sponsored by Humana Hospital in Huntington Beach.

At MainPlace in Santa Ana, St. Joseph Hospital of Orange sponsors the “Pacers Club” from 9 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Although the program is free, the hospital requests that participants sign a registration form. Call (714) 771-8040 for more information.

The Laguna Hills Mall is planning to set up a formal program in the fall, but meanwhile the mall is open at 8 a.m. for those who want to come in and walk.

South Coast Plaza is open for walkers from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., although the center has no formal program.

Westminster Mall and Humana Hospital co-sponsor the Mallwalker program, which begins at 9 a.m. daily. Participants are asked to sign up for the free program, and awards are given to those who walk 50 miles or more. Call (714) 898-2558.

Jan Hofmann is a regular contributor to Orange County Life.