Burn more calories and boost heart health with this walking technique
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Walking is something we all do daily — even if it’s just around your house or getting to and from work. And that movement throughout the day is important for maintaining overall health. But if you want to use walking as your main form of exercise, there are different ways to approach it to reap more benefits.
Research has shown that taking more steps per minute, as one does while brisk or power walking, can help with insulin levels and body mass index. While power walking is a good way to burn calories, that doesn’t mean that there’s no room in your routine for a regular, moderate-paced walk. Here’s what you need to know to decide when to dial up the intensity — and when to slow things down.
What is brisk walking?
So what is a brisk walking, exactly? Power walking entails moving at a quick speed and getting your arms involved. To get the most out of this workout, make sure to move your feet from heel to toe with each step, moving as quickly as you can. Pump your arms, keeping them bent at a 90-degree angle, to maintain momentum. Make sure to engage your core throughout to build strength and improve balance in your body. Power walking engages the entire body, burning more calories and getting your heart rate up.
Is brisk walking good for weight loss?
Brisk walking provides a wide range of health benefits for both your physical and mental health, it is a fantastic way to improve cardiovascular health. By engaging in brisk walking, you increase your heart rate and breathing, which strengthens your heart and lungs. This, in turn, enhances your overall cardiovascular fitness, lowers blood pressure, and reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Additionally, brisk walking is an effective way to manage weight and improve body composition. It helps burn calories and boost your metabolism, making it a great option for weight loss or weight maintenance. Regular brisk walking can also help tone your muscles, especially in your legs, glutes and core.
Brisk walking benefits for heart health
Regular walking allows you to set a comfortable pace. So if you’re new to working out, starting off with a regular walk can help you ease into physical movement and improve endurance without pushing yourself too hard. If you’re worried that you won’t be working hard enough, don’t be. Walking at any pace will still help you burn calories and improve your cardiovascular fitness — and you can always gradually increase the pace.
Brisk walking demands more from our cardiovascular system. Because power walking requires more steps per minute, your heart rate will increase more than it would on a regular walk. This makes brisk walking a more intense cardiovascular workout that burns more calories than regular walking.
Brisk walking benefits for toning
While power walking and regular walking both work the quads, hamstrings, calf muscles and hip abductors, power walking also tones the glutes, shoulders and upper back. Regular walking is still a lower-body workout, but tends to help burn calories more than anything else.
Power walking, on the other hand, helps burn calories while also toning your muscles more than a regular walk would. The more intense arm movements during power walking work the shoulders and upper back while engaging the entire body and challenging balance and stability, which works the core.
What's healthier: power walking or regular walking?
There are certain circumstances where you will benefit from a power walk over a regular walk and vice versa. If you only have a short amount of time to squeeze in a workout, opt for a power walk. You’ll be able to burn more calories and tone your muscles in a shorter period of time with this form of walking.
However, if you have a longer amount of time to exercise, going on a regular walk can be a relaxing way to burn calories and de-stress. When people tell me they are super stressed or anxious, I always recommend a regular, moderate-paced walk. Walking at a moderate pace still works the heart. Plus, you’ll be able to clear your mind and focus on yourself.
What is a brisk walking speed?
Research has defined brisk walking as 3 to 4 mph or greater. (A recent study even showed that every 0.6 mph increase in walking speed is associated with a 9 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes!)
A brisk walk is meant to increase your heart rate but still enable you to carry on a conversation without being out of breath. If you begin walking quickly and are unable to talk without heavy breathing, slow your walking slightly to remain at a brisk pace.
This brisk walking speed will differ from person to person. I advise you to figure out your brisk walking speed based on your own baseline. For example, my baseline walking speed is about 3 mph. So if I want to walk more briskly, or faster, I’d set the treadmill to 3.5. Maybe your average walking speed is a 2.0 so your brisk walking speed may be 2.5. For these reasons, when determining a walking workout that incorporate intervals and brisk walking, we’ll speak in generalities so that you go from your own baseline to a brisk walking speed with a moderate speed in between.
If you’re on a treadmill and your average walking speed is about a 3.0 like mine, then your moderate speed would be about a 3.25 and your brisk speed may be a 3.5. However, when you’re not able to use a treadmill to gauge your speed, feel free to simply think about your faster walk as your brisk walk, your baseline walk as your average speed, and your moderate speed as somewhere in between.
20-minute brisk walking interval workout
2 minutes: Baseline speed
1 minute: Moderate speed
1 minute: Brisk speed
2 minutes: Baseline speed
2 minutes: Brisk speed
1 minute: Baseline speed
1 minute: Moderate speed
2 minutes: Brisk speed
2 minutes: Baseline speed
2 minutes: Brisk speed
1 minute: Moderate speed
1 minute: Baseline speed
2 minutes: Brisk speed
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
