Not Much Of A Runner? Speed Walk Yourself Into That Fit Life With These Effective Tips

Okay this might come as a shocker but did you know that you can burn as many calories by walking as you can do by running? In fact, if you do it right, chances are that you’ll end up burning even more. Now, this has to be a life-changing revelation for people like me who have been stress eating during the lockdown and can’t think about taking running as a habit ever in their lives. 

In fact, Michele Stanten, author of the best-selling book Walk Your Way to Better Health states that “In As Little As 10, 20, or 30 Minutes a Day, You Can Walk Off the Weight!” Yes, you don’t even have to walk for miles or hours to get a fitter better body for all you need to do is master a set of speed walking techniques that will help you get the optimum results possible. 

Seek to shed the lockdown kilos? Here are some speed walking tips that’ll keep you covered:

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Outpace The Runners

The pace is everything while speed walking and it exactly is your key to burning more calories. Start with moderate speeds and then go on increasing it over time. This is exactly here that the secret of outshining a runner lies. You have to aim for a pace of approximately 4.7 mph and that’ll do the task for you just right. 

Break It Into Speed Intervals

To make it easier, you can break the session into intervals in which you can do 30-60 seconds of your fastest pace followed by a moderate speed for 4-5 minutes. This not only helps you reach your optimum pace but will also speed-up the calories burn and will also set your body to burn calories even when you are not working out. With the help of this method, “As you recover, you’ll continue to burn calories at an accelerated rate for as little as 20 minutes or possibly up to 24 hours,” writes Stanten. 

Start With The Posture

Posture makes a lot of difference when it comes to speed walking and the more you keep your spine elongated, the more calories you’ll burn. The science here is simple. While speed walking, you sort of create more distance between your rib cage and hips while you stand straight which in turn allows you to swing your legs more freely, thus helping you with the overall pace. 

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Keep Those Arms Swinging

Bend your arms at an angle of 90 degrees and then swing them forward and back while you walk. However, keep the movement restricted to shorter swings because long, elaborate ones will end up hampering your pace. Keeping your arms all pumped up during the walk also helps you in engaging your core during the session, work on the entire body, and move faster. 

Baby Steps For The Win

Just like longer arm swings, huge strides are sure to hamper your walking speed as well. Thus, it is advisable to take smaller steps instead. Your front leg starts acting like a brake if you take longer steps thus making the entire exercise counterproductive. Here’s what you can do to ace that gait: Raise one of your knees up to the height of your hips in a manner that your foot hangs just below your knee (like we do in a marching position). After this, extend your leg in front of you and follow this by bringing your heel down to the ground. It should just be a few inches apart from your other foot.

Aim For The Inclines

When you opt for inclined terrains to walk, you elevate the chances of burning calories by 50 percent. And no, you don’t have to go looking for hills, stairs or garage ramps work just fine. Begin with a five percent grade if you are working with a treadmill and then gradually increase it to 7-8 percent. 

Lastly, remember that you are your own roadblock as well as competition when it comes to yielding optimum results out of your workout. Thus, when you head for some speed walking, promise yourself to do better than the last time and never stop working on improvements! So, folks, all set to speed walk yourself to good health?

Featured Image: Heart.org