Get more out of your daily walk

By: WGR Staff

May 20, 2020, 9:00 am - Categories: Health Tips

Have you been getting out every day for a walk, but feel ready to step up your game and add a little more of a challenge and variety?  Here’s a few ideas to help you go from a stroll around the neighborhood to a walk that will help you burn some additional quarantine calories and even add a little strength component as well.

• Track your steps. Keeping track of the number of steps you are doing can help make you challenge yourself.  See how many steps you do in your regular stroll, and then make sure each time you go out that you get at least that number of steps.  Set a goal to add 500 steps each week from what you are doing currently. Tracking progress will help to ensure you are making improvements.
• Step up your pace. Once you have a feel for how long it takes you to complete the step goal you set for yourself now try to challenge yourself to do the same number of steps in less time.  Adding intervals to your walking pace will help you challenge your heart rate and burn more calories.  Try going a bit faster for a minute at a time or pick set distance that you try to go faster for example from one telephone pole to next.
• Use your arms. You do not need to carry weights in order to have your arms help you increase the caloric burn. Swing your arms the way a runner does as you are walking.  This will help increase your heart rate and get more muscles involves in your walk.
• Change your walking path. There may not be too many options as far as where you can walk right now, but even if you go an opposite direction on your stroll you’ll get a different type of workout by walking up that hill instead of down.  If it’s possible taking your walk to a different type of terrain that can help too.  It’s more challenging to walk on a dirt path rather then on a flat sidewalk. Travel to a neighborhood that has more hills if your normal path is pretty flat.
• Add weight. If you’ve been walking for a while and you are ready to challenge yourself pack a backpack with some light books and carry that on your back as you walk.  Adding more bodyweight to your walk will help you burn some extra calories.
• Add some strength exercises. Try walking with high knees for 30-60 seconds at a time.  Raise your knees to a 90-degree angle when you take your steps and do so at a quicker pace.  Add a walking lunge for 10-20 reps.  Take a large step with your right leg and lower your left leg until your knee is a few inches from the ground, push up and repeat with the opposite side.  Take a break from walking and do some calf raises.  Stand on the balls of your feet and raise your heels off the group and back up.  Use the curb to hang your heels off the back for a little more of a challenge.  Try a step up with knee lift using the curb.  Place your left foot on the elevated curb and step up driving the right knee up then back to the street for 10-20 rep then switch and do the other side.  Do this every time you cross a street to add to the number of steps you are doing and add speed to get your heart rate elevated.

Stay safe and always exercise within your own limits.  Try to focus on one of these components at a time and ease into them.  Don’t over do it and try to add all of these new things at the same time.  Steady and slow wins the race!

Stay safe and step-up up that walk!