Patriot Health Digest
Trainers love to walk. When I’m not doing strength training, you’ll find me at a park, where I’m walking and listening to podcasts.
Walking more is actually crucial to more than your mental and physical health. It’s a vital part of getting lean. Walking helps you be active and boost your non-exercise thermogenesis, and that essentially means all of your not-exercise moves. Like doing chores and playing with your kids. All of this helps your fat loss. Also, if you are engaged in other exercise, walking is also a wonderful way to help your recovery.
If you want to walk your way to a healthier and better body, what follows are four perfect walking workout ideas that you can start ASAP.
1 — City Walking
Find a circle in your neighborhood, and section off 30-60 minutes—whatever you are ok with doing. If you are a beginner, simply warm up using a 5-minute normal walk, and then start going at a brisker pace—in which you might talk to someone near to you, but you are too winded to sing—and do as many loops as you can in this time. It’s important to walk for time, and don’t think about distance. So keep going until your time is over. Step this up over time by walking faster.
2 — Stair-Climbing
Find a spot in your community with lots of stairs. Set your timer for 30-45 minutes. Then do as many laps as you can on the biggest trail of stairs you can get to. Just remember: Don’t do this too fast. All of this climbing will really push your conditioning, so do at a steady pace you find doable. Just keep on climbing! (Also remember to drink lots of water.)
3 — The Treadmill Workout
Set your treadmill to its highest incline and your speed to 2.5-3.0 mph. Walk at this rate for 15-20 minutes and watch your heart rate get up high!
4 — The Hiking Workout
Depending on your community, there could be hiking trails near you. Find one and help yourself lose weight in nature. If you are new to hiking, pick a smaller trail. If you are more conditioned, choose a trail that is for intermediate hikers or above.
Since you are going across different terrain and inclines, you might want to lower the difficulty a bit—or just walk using a brisk pace. And remember: Be sure to bring water, especially in the hotter weather.
Author: Blake Ambrose
