Walking is an effective way to boost cardio fitness, improve mood, and maintain joint health. Even moderate walking can lower mortality risk – recent research shows that just 3,867 steps per day can have this effect.
Emma Simarro, founder of Building Body Confidence, emphasizes the importance of intensity and exercises when incorporating a walking workout into your routine. By adding speed and dynamic movements, walkers can improve cardiovascular fitness, preserve muscle mass, and increase muscular endurance.
To try this 30-minute walking workout, follow Simarro’s four-section plan: warm-up, power walk, dynamic exercises, and cool-down. The workout ranges from gentle to challenging, using the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale from one to 10.
The walking workout includes:
– A 3-minute warm-up to increase RPE from three to seven
– A 5-minute power walk with alternating intervals of power and recovery
– Dynamic exercises for 20 minutes, including five movements: high knee march, sidestep, sidestep and squat, reverse step, and heel to buttock kick
– A 2-minute cool-down to reduce heart rate
To maximize the workout’s effectiveness, remember to stand tall, engage your core, breathe deeply, and use your arms to generate power from the shoulders.
Source: https://www.inkl.com/news/forget-the-gym-this-30-minute-walking-workout-will-help-you-clock-up-6-000-steps-and-boost-your-cardio