Walking is good, but not enough

Walking is a safe exercise, gentle on the joints, and comfortable to do, making it the natural choice of exercise for the majority of people. Indeed, many GP’s recommend a daily walk for good health and recovery.

Walking, however, suffers from one major drawback when compared to all other forms of physical exercise: it is the most common form of movement to our species.

We have been doing it since we were toddlers so our bodies have become efficient at it. By efficient I mean it uses less energy to execute the motion; less energy means less calories burned.

Walking suffers from further limitations:

• It uses only one out of three planes of motion.

• Walking also has a very short range of motion for all limbs. Meaning it is not the best movement to improve flexibility and mobility.

• Walking also does not make you strong throughout. The body needs stimulus to get stronger: jumping, lifting, twisting, balancing, standing up from a lying down position… a daily walk just doesn’t do it.

This does not mean that walking is not good. A daily walk, alongside a healthy diet, can help shed kilos. Even competitive athletes such as bodybuilders use walking as their cardio to cut away excess body fat. But it is not enough by itself to increase or maintain overall strength.

With that being said, below is a list of tweaks you can do to maximise results and get the best out of your walk:

How to maximise your walk for good exercise

a. Timing

A brisk walk is an ideal exercise for the morning. It allows the body to gently increase the body temperature and gradually feed more oxygen to all vital functions. My personal recommendation would be to do it first thing in the morning immediately after waking up. A solid 20-30 minute walk will help you feel fully awake and charged. Follow it up with a cold shower to get into peak performance.

b. Bursts of speed

Rather than keep a steady pace throughout your walk, change your walking speed. You can do 10 minutes at regular pace and then 10 minutes of fast pace. Or maybe walk at top speed for a minute, return to normal speed for 2 minutes, and repeat. Over time, this repeated challenging of your cardiovascular system will increase your stamina.

c. Inclines

Hills and inclines are great to max out your effort, especially if they are not linear or gradual. Stairs, road inclines, climbing hills, are all good incline examples which you can add to your walk. Not only do they test your stamina, but will help develop stronger leg muscles.

d. Rough Terrain

Walking on uneven/rough terrain forces you to fight for balance. Your ankles are constantly correcting themselves and your hips are working to steady your upper body. This form of exercise strengthens your ankle joints and balance. You can also use it as a meditative exercise which forces your mind to stay focused on the right foot placement.

e. Adding weights

A great way to add a challenge to your walk is to do your usual walk with a heavy backpack or weighted vest strapped onto your back. Although this method does not challenge your cardiovascular system as much as speed or inclines, it does use a lot more energy than your regular walk, and will help strengthen your posture by forcing you to maintain a straight back throughout.

Exercises that complement walking

The additions to walking that I mentioned above will help make your walking more challenging, and more helpful to overall health. But, as I already stated, walking is not enough on its own to generate overall body strength. Below I have listed 3 simple exercises that can be used following your walk to help strengthen the entire body:

Chair Squats: A very simple exercise to strengthen the legs and hips. Sit on a chair, then stand up straight without assisting with your hands, and repeat. Try to go for high repetitions between 20 and 50.

Wall Pushes: Imagine you are going to push the wall forward. Both hands on the wall, legs in a strong position on the ground, and push forward with all your might. Start with a good 20 second push, and gradually build it up to 40 to 60 seconds.

Kneeling to standing: Both knees on the ground and both hands as well, like a baby crawl. Push back with your hands and drive your legs to bring yourself to a standing position. Return to crawl position and repeat for 10 to 20 times.