Walking is a fabulous form of cardiovascular exercise. It requires no special equipment, can be done inside or outside (remember the mall walks that were all the rage in the 90s?), and can be done by a large percentage of women.
But is walking alone enough for good general fitness? You can probably guess my answer from my recent articles on why cardio isn’t the best form of exercise and why working with weights won’t make you bulky. Unfortunately, walking alone doesn’t quite cut it.
Still, while walking may not be enough on its own, walking is a great place to start for all the above-mentioned reasons and does provide a good base to add on to. Let’s explore what other things are important and how to easily add them to a walking routine.
As always, make sure you speak to your physician before starting any exercise program.
Types of Exercise
At the most basic level, we need three different forms of conditioning or exercise to stay functionally fit throughout our lives. We need cardio, strength, or resistance training, and we need mobility training. Other specific work is usually a combination of these. Balance training combines strength and mobility, as do Pilates and yoga.
Cardio Training
Cardio helps keep our hearts strong and our lungs functioning well, thereby improving circulation of blood, lymph, oxygen, and other nutrients throughout our body. Cardio can be done in a HIIT format, which entails repeating short periods of intense, fast work followed by a shorter rest (a Tabata HIIT protocol, which is very common, prescribes eight rounds of 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest). Cardio can also be done in a steady moderate state for a longer period of times, like taking a long walk without getting breathless.
Walking can and should be done either way! You can walk super fast at a breathless pace for 20 seconds and then slow down for 10. You can also find a steady pace and go longer distances.
Doing HIIT walking will help you sprint, like when you have to run for a train, plane, or bus. It also assists in fat burning, helping your body deplete its glycogen stores. Steady pace will help general cardio conditioning and will also help strengthen your legs and lower back.
Strength or Resistance Training
While walking does help strengthen your legs and back, since you’re working them against gravity, all women need more strength training. If you still like to grocery shop, carry your own bags, move boxes of stuff, and maybe carry your grandchildren, you need some upper body and full body strength! Plus, strength trying will improve your walking experience.
Building muscle takes time and effort but know that lean muscle mass looks better and performs better than fat. You’ll be stronger for grocery shopping, stairs, and any activities you like to do before you get bulky. And since lean muscle burns more energy than fat, even at rest, strength training will actually help you get leaner.
Want better bone density to avoid osteoporosis and associated fractures? You need strength training.
Need a metabolism boost? Muscle is metabolically active, meaning it burns more calories even at rest. helping you burn more calories throughout the day, even while you’re not exercising. You need strength training.
This work can be done against gravity (body weight), or with the addition of weights or bands for extra resistance.
Mobility Training
Finally, we need mobility training. Stiff joints can hinder our ability to move well, and they respond very well to movement. Also, mobility training will help with executing strength training and cardio exercises in the most effective way.
Walking doesn’t really improve mobility unless you really focus on lengthening your stride and really swinging your arms. However, mobility training will improve your balance and walking.
Add to Your Walking
Ready to start adding strength and mobility training? Here are some ways to add these to your walking:
Carry weights
Don’t go overboard initially. Choose weights that feel challenging but doable and gradually increase as you get stronger. Amazon sells inexpensive weight sets with, say, 3-, 5-, and 10-pound weights. Holding weights helps add resistance to your whole body, while giving you some upper body and back work.
Add some exercises
Walk for a few minutes and then stop and do some squats. Repeat a few times. If you’re holding weights, add in some bicep curls, front and side raises, and shoulder shrugs.
Towards the end of your walk, incorporate some mobility by lengthening your stride, doing some arms circles, and a few slower, deeper squats.
Use Park Benches or Household Chairs
Park benches or chairs make excellent workout assistants. Use them to sit and stand (squats), step up on them and back down, place your hands on them for incline planks and push-ups, as well as triceps dips. Put your foot up to stretch your leg.
Be consistent
Consistency is key at the beginning, not intensity. If you’re not currently exercising, start by just walking, and add on from there.
Experiment with different types of strength and mobility training. You may discover that you love free weights and kettlebells. Or, like many of my clients, you may prefer the feel of bands. There’s tubing with handles, traditional bands, and looped bands.
Do you like bodyweight exercises? Try weight-free strength and mobility exercises, yoga, Pilates, or tai chi. Find what works for you and stick with it.
Learn More
Within the free, donation-based courses of The Wellness Universe Wellness for All programming is my course, Exercise for Bone Health, Strength, & Mobility, which will set you up for a lifetime of exercise and will work for you whether or not you currently have low bone density.
I’ve taught this course twice, and all sessions are recorded, so when you register now you’ll have access to all the recorded classes, which also contain workouts. Each round of the course is slightly different, so I encourage you to look at both. Register here – https://bit.ly/LyndaLippinCourse
If you find the content at all useful, any donation is appreciated by both myself and The Wellness Universe and helps us all continue to bring you fabulous programming.
Finally, if you’re interested in trying Pilates online or live, check out my Strong Bones Pilates programming – https://lyndalippin.com/strong-bones-online-pilates-studio – where you’ll find live online classes, as well as online private sessions and workshops.
All information, content, and material are for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider. The information supplied through or on this page, or by any representative or agent of The Wellness Universe, is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or other professional advice. Health-related information provided through this website is not a substitute for medical advice and should not be used to diagnose or treat health problems or to prescribe any medical devices or other remedies. The Wellness Universe reserves the right to remove, edit, move, or close any content item for any reason, including, but not limited to, comments that are in violation of the laws and regulations formed pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. None of the posts and articles on The Wellness Universe page may be reprinted without express written permission.
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