Even if I feel tired in the evening, all too often when I get into bed and turn off the light my mind starts whirring with anxious thoughts and I can’t drift off. I end up turning the light back on and reading until my eyelids start to droop, so I struggle to get the seven hours of shut-eye I need to feel refreshed the next day.
The 6-6-6 walking routine, the article explained, involves a one-hour walk every day at either 6am or 6pm. You start with a six-minute warm-up (walking at your normal speed), increase to a brisk pace for the remaining 54 minutes, then follow the walk with six minutes of stretching.
As a 40-year-old freelance journalist juggling lots of deadlines, I spend most of the day typing away on my laptop. I try to always go out at lunchtime for a walk, but I rarely hit the recommended 10k steps on a weekday, so doing longer daily walks was also appealing.
Katie alternated between morning and evening walks (Photo: Supplied)
Before starting, I asked a range of health and fitness experts for their thoughts on the 6-6-6 walking routine, and they all agreed it’s an effective way to reap the benefits of daily exercise.
“Research suggests that walking may help improve your cholesterol profile, help control hypertension, and slow the process of osteoporosis. It’s also believed that walking can help to ‘reduce sleep disturbance,’ meaning that people who walk regularly are more likely to sleep better.”
I asked sleep expert and author Charlie Morley how important it was to stick to the 6am and 6pm set-off times.
The only problem is, this being bleak mid-winter, the sun is nowhere to be seen when I commence the 6-6-6 walking routine with a Sunday night walk. I easily complete a 60-minute city loop while listening to a podcast, finishing up with six minutes of simple stretches for my hamstrings, quads, glutes and calves.
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Read MoreThe next morning, I’m shocked when I wake up a full hour before my 5.30am alarm (maybe I was anxious about the impending pre-dawn walk?) and can’t get back to sleep. The sky is still pitch black when I’m heading out the door at 6am and there are hardly any cars, let alone people, on the streets during my riverside walk.
Luckily I don’t suffer any more unwanted 4.30am wake-up calls and I start to enjoy the 6am walks more than the 6pm ones. I feel pretty smug to have finished with my morning exertions by the time most people are just waking up, whereas the evening walks are more difficult to schedule around work and socialising.
As I enter into week two, I’m noticing a distinct difference in my sleep patterns. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out why, but on the days when I do a 6am walk I sleep better that night. I don’t think this is only because of the early start, but also because I have more energy in the mornings, so I walk faster, and in turn expend more energy.
One other aspect I struggle with is the lack of sunlight on both the morning and evening walks. While getting my heart rate up is energising, I can’t help but wonder if I would be enjoying the challenge more if I was doing it in spring or summer.
Overall, the 6-6-6 walking routine didn’t give me enough of a cardio workout compared to my usual high-impact sessions, but in terms of sleep the morning walks were fantastic for inducing what experts call ‘sleep pressure’ (that droopy-eyed feeling) at the end of the day.
Would I do it again? Yes, if I were struggling with particularly bad insomnia, but I would wait until the time of year when it’s light at 6am and I would concentrate on the morning walks as I found them the most beneficial for improving my sleep and mood, plus I wouldn’t be so strict about hitting the one-hour goal.
The 6-6-6 challenge has reminded me of one key wellbeing truth: even if you can’t manage an hour of pounding the pavements every day, going for a brisk walk, no matter what time you do it, is a great first step to better sleep.
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