Got a Spare Ten Minutes? – Try Interval Walking

Got a Spare Ten Minutes? – Try Interval Walking

Our fitness expert explains just what a simple mix-and-match walking workout will do for you.

For lots of people, a good walk in the open air is the best way to set aside some time for ourselves and get our limbs moving. Walking (as opposed to running or jogging) is a low-impact exercise, so people will be much more comfortable walking than with similar activities.

To maximise the fitness and weight loss advantages of any walking that you may decide to do, our fitness expert at Dave’s Team talks about three magnitude levels which are involved when walking, all of which you can use to put together an easy but very effective workout.

Just pick one of your normal routes and mix it up a bit on the three levels. As an example, start off with a three or five minute warm-up (level one), build up to level two with more energy and then vary it with bursts of level three activity; after that you can take two to three minutes off in order to cool down again to level one. Make use of landmarks such as the next bus stop or road intersection to serve as your distance marker before applying a burst of energised level three activity.

As long as you keep to a regime of these three level types of activity you’ll be doing your body a world of good. It’s what sports scientists have called ‘interval training’, and this type of activity is thought to be as beneficial as normal steady exercise just over a slightly longer period. Even an average 10 minute bout of this kind of activity can make a lot of difference to your cardiovascular health and general well-being. Ensure that you’re listening to your body, just to feel how good it is, and be sure to take a rest whenever you feel the need to do so.

Learn your levels

Level one (magnitude level 4–5 out of 10)

·         Walk at a normal steady pace and concentrate on your posture by breathing up from the middle of your body upwards; make sure you relax your shoulders and swing your arms with your stride.

·         The swing of your arms should be from your shoulder, not the elbow, and your arms should swing right out in front of you.

·         The length of your stride should be determined by how comfortable you feel doing it; on planting your heel on the ground, your toes should be lifted towards your shins. Your foot will then roll naturally from heel to toe before again pushing off on a new stride.

Level two (magnitude level 6–7 out of 10)

·         Walk confidently, bending the elbows to about 90 degrees and then swinging them in time with the rhythm of your stride.

·         Keep the elbows close to the body; concentrate on your elbows’ forward and backward motion. At no point should your legs be straight – do this so as to produce a natural and smooth motion; be aware that a locked knee could cause a bouncing motion and wouldn’t look very natural.     

·         As your speed increases, so will your hips rotate; allow this to take place naturally rather than moving the hips artificially.

·         Lean forward a bit, ensuring that you do so from your ankles, and never the waist, as this could cause back problems.

Level three (magnitude level 8 out of 10)

·         Level three is about your speed; walk as fast as you feel you are able. It might be difficult to maintain this, so keep doing it in bursts.

·         Make sure that you concentrate on increasing your stride frequency, rather than your stride length; pump your arms by gently lifting your elbows behind you.

·         To increase your speed, narrow your overall stride a bit and try adding a push off effort with your big toe every time you take a step, moving your foot in a continuous motion.

·         From your ankles try leaning forward to give yourself a hint of being able to push quite hard against the ground. Leaning forward will also lessen your chances of accidentally over-striding.