Walking is a great way to keep up your general fitness — and there are lots of ways you can push yourself while out for a stroll to ensure you're getting the optimum benefits.
If you struggle fitting regular, rigorous exercise into your life, why not take a look at these tips — compiled by Bear Fitness personal trainer Sarah Ryder — on ways to give a little extra effort during your walk.
Try a More Vigorous Arm Swing
Your arms will swing naturally when you're walking, but to get the most from walk, really get those arms working; it will activate more muscle fibers and get the blood pumping. Make sure you keep your arms at a 90° angle to maintain good form and posture.
Up the ante: Use a pair of Nordic Poles to get even more of the upper body and torso engaged. Research suggests that this burns an additional 20-40% calories — brilliant!
Implement a Fartlek-Style Walk
Simply put, you select three different paces (fast, medium, and slow) to keep your body guessing, while giving it time to recover for the fast bursts. You will be able to maintain this for much longer than trying to walk fast the whole time, which means you'll increase the amount of calories you burn.
Up the ante: Slightly change your walking style while walking faster. For example, use a heel/mid-foot/toe strike to engage the hamstring and glutes for a greater burn.
Start Tracking
Use a heart-rate monitor to ensure you are actually pushing yourself. The higher your heart rate, the greater the benefits (up to a certain point).
Up the ante: Get new sneakers. A pair with optimum flexibility and little cushioning will do the trick, because this will engage more muscle fibers to make sure the foot is controlled.
Experiment With Lunges
Throw in a few bodyweight lunges every so often. Lunges will challenge your quads, hamstrings, and help to firm your glutes.
Up the ante: If you don't have knee issues, add a jump. Turning any movement into a plyometric will increase the demand on the body, burning more calories and helping you tone your muscles faster.
Add an Incline
Increase the incline and you could burn up to 50% more calories. Anything above an incline of 2.5% requires a marked increase in oxygen consumption — and therefore fuel burnt. Hello, hills; farewell, calories!
Up the ante: Keep your speed up. If you walk at a speed of 4.7 m.p.h., you will burn the same amount of calories as jogging — which isn't bad for the casual walker.
Walk With Weights
This is a lovely way to increase your burn. A weighted backpack is the best option, as an over shoulder bag can place undue strain on the spine. Ideally choose one with a waist and chest strap, and that way you will reduce the amount the bag bounces around.
Up the ante: Try a farmer carry. If you're not sure what this is, think of how you'd carry your food shopping home — bending down and picking up a weight with each arm, while keeping your back straight.
Although this is often viewed as difficult (and is therefore dreaded) because of the additional stress it places on the body, you can't deny that it gets the old ticker going and it will make you work much harder than merely carrying a backpack. Plus, farmer carrying should improve your grip — and a strong grip is proven to have a positive correlation to heart health.
Schedule Your Walks
There’s no way to squeeze more minutes into the day, “so you have to create time,” says fitness trainer Heidi Powell. Add walks to your calendar so they feel nonnegotiable — just like a meeting or your kid’s soccer game. It might also help to get walks out of the way in the morning. Who knows what the day might throw at you? “Someone who decides to exercise first thing is more likely to get it done than someone who saves it for later,” says Roy F. Baumeister, Ph.D., coauthor of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Try laying out your workout clothes before bed, and set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier than usual. Move it back each day until you have enough time for your walk.
Think of the Natural Energy Boost
“Any expert will tell you that even a casual walk around the neighborhood will help you feel vastly more energized throughout your day,” says Powell. Plus, it may make you happier: Research shows that a 20-minute workout can lift your spirits for up to 12 hours. So instead of dwelling on how you feel now, think about how you’ll feel afterward.
Find a Walking Buddy
In an Indiana University study, researchers compared the success of people who committed to exercising alone to those who did it with a partner. A year later, half of the folks who worked out solo had dropped out, while only 8% of the paired exercisers had quit. If no one’s available to lace up his or her sneakers with you, use podcasts or playlists to entertain you during your stroll. And when the weather’s not cooperating, hit the treadmill and download the Treadmill Trails app. It’s loaded with 30-minute videos (99¢ each) that make you feel like you’re walking somewhere more interesting — like a national park, a tropical beach, or a busy city.
Practice Belly Breathing
This will help you power through when you feel winded. “Let your chest and stomach expand as you take a breath,” says Susan Joy, M.D., co-director of Kaiser Permanente Sports Medicine Center. “It relaxes your body so oxygen can get to your muscles more efficiently during exercise.” Try it while you’re on the phone or waiting in line at the grocery store, then incorporate it into your walks.
Add Strength Training
Sore knees can really hamper your routine. One of the most common causes of knee pain is weakness in the thighs and hips, which absorb impact, says Alexis Chiang Colvin, M.D., associate professor of sports medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. That’s why building up those muscles through strengthening exercises can help. And try shortening your stride; this lets you land on the middle of your foot, which activates your body’s natural shock absorbers.
Change Your Focus
Walking to control your weight is a smart move, but it’s only part of the picture. Keep in mind how exercise is affecting your overall health and happiness, and the activities you’re able to do more comfortably now, like exploring a new city on foot or walking around an amusement park all day. Another idea: “Focus on something bigger than a number, like training for a charity walk,” says Powell. It will motivate you even on days when a slim-down plan feels stuck in place.
Happy walking!
