3 Ways to Make Walking a Great Workout
Walking is great exercise, it's terribly under-rated these days in our world where many people think "heavy lifting" or extreme strength training are the only options because that's what many fitness influencers push heavily.
But regardless of trends in the fitness industry remember... walking is terrific for your health and a great foundation to any able bodied person's healthy lifestyle.
3 ways to make your walk more of a workout:
- Carry walking weights - this adds an additional strength training element. I've had great success with this in the past and noticed lots of extra strength gained in my arms, shoulders and even my abs/obliques!
- Increase your pace - walk just slightly faster than your normal walking pace this will usually be enough to ensure you are in the "workout" heart rate zone.
- Elevation gain. Walking up a hill requires more effort so find some places that are undulating or even hike up a mountain.
Today we went for a bushwalk, it was a fairly flat trail so we walked slightly faster than my comfortable walking pace to ensure we maximized the health benefits of our walk.
Don't fall for fitness industry hype and trends! Sometimes the 'old fashioned' concepts are just as effective. The fitness industry exists to sell you things. Walking for fitness is relatively simple and you don't need to buy extra things to do it so influencers don't push it because they can't make money as easily from it!
Any safe exercise is beneficial, figure out what works for you by trying a variety of things. You don't have to go 'all in' on any one activity either! A varied exercise regimen can actually be much more enjoyable.
