Don’t like to run? Try walking! Walking is awesome cardio workout. Walking burns calories, relieves stress, improves health and improves mood!
Walking is a good cardio workout with minimal stress on the joints, which can help you lose weight, relieve stress and lift your mood. As with running, which can be sprint or cross-country running, there are different types of walking. You can use any of them to improve your health and achieve your fitness goals.
We’ll look at seven different ways to incorporate walking into your workout routine.
1. Brisk walking
You can count steps or monitor indicators on the treadmill to monitor your speed. Although the average pace is individual and highly dependent on fitness level, walking can be called fast if you take more than 100 steps per minute or cover more than 5.5 kilometers per hour. Brisk walking raises your heart rate, burns more calories, improves health and promotes longevity.
2. Speed walking
If you want to raise the level of difficulty, you can go from fast walking to speed walking, which requires further boosting the pace. Speed walking almost turns into running and is accompanied by vigorous arm movements that help develop endurance and strength throughout the body.
When walking at speed, it is important to make perfect swings with your arms bent at 90 degrees, and watch the smooth roll of the foot from heel to toe. Weights can be added to the arms or legs to increase muscle stress and build strength. For most people, speed is walking at a pace of 6.5 to 8 km / h. You can train both outdoors and on a treadmill.
3. Race Walking
Race walking is an Olympic sport. During the competition, you need to overcome a certain distance and, if possible, get ahead of all rivals. Unlike running, race walking must always have one foot touching the ground, otherwise disqualification cannot be avoided.
In order to develop maximum speed, athletes often shorten their stride and use a special movement technique in the hip joints that allows them to keep the leg straight. An upright torso position and rapid arm movements are also markers of athletic walking. The fast heart rate turns this type of walking into a high-intensity workout that burns a ton of calories in a short amount of time.
4. Tai Chi Walking
A specific type of walking, in which special attention is paid to technique. Many people use Tai Chi walking to improve posture, strengthen core muscles, relax tense muscles, and develop aerobic endurance.
Much attention is paid to mental practice, which helps to focus on the correct body position. This style of walking actively uses the principles of Tai Chi gymnastics. During training, you will immerse yourself and explore the mind, body and spirit as a whole.
5. Nordic walking with trekking poles
Nordic walking is a hybrid of speed walking and cross-country skiing, because during an energetic walk you actively use sticks or stops. Trekking poles connect your upper body to help you move forward faster. This option can be useful for people who are looking for a more complete workout of the whole body and trunk muscles. Nordic walking also helps improve coordination, increase your pace, and climb steep slopes or trails.
6. Marathon walking
This type of walking is focused on developing endurance, because you have to overcome a marathon distance (42.195 km, or 26.2 miles). During the marathon, running and walking are often used by amateur runners; fans of clean walking have ambitious goals too. Most major marathons have a time limit of six hours, but sometimes the organizers increase the limit to 8 hours so that pedestrians can also take part.
Regardless of the limit, you need to prepare for the marathon well in advance. Slowly build up your mileage, build endurance, and maintain a steady pace. It usually takes up to nine months for beginner walkers to prepare for a marathon. When preparing for a marathon, it is recommended that you add one long workout per week to your regular walking activities with a gradual increase in distance.
7. Stroller walking
Stroller walking is ideal for new parents to combine business with pleasure. You spend time with your child, walk in the fresh air, and at the same time also exercise. Usually, a special stroller is selected for these purposes, which is easier to push. Since the stroller changes your gait, you need to be mindful of your posture and walking technique to avoid injury. A few simple tips will help those who decide to try this option:
- Keep your wrist in a neutral position.
- Engage your abdominal muscles.
- Keep your pelvis closer to the wheelchair.
- Try to move your shoulder blades back and down, and keep your head high.
- Change your free arm to give the muscles of the right and left side of the body an even load.