Walking is the most popular physical activity. More than 145,000,000 adults (and counting!) are regularly seen lace up their sneakers. It’s also one of the best ways to increase your heart rate.
Walking isn’t given the respect it deserves when it comes to exercising. These six walking myths will help you see the truth about walking.
10,000 Steps is a Holy Grail
It is an amazing feeling when your fitness tracker buzzes to indicate you have reached 10,000 steps. Carol Ewing Garber, PhD, a Columbia University professor of movement sciences, thinks it may be an arbitrary target.
Although studies have shown that walking 10,000 steps per day can help lower blood pressure better glucose tolerance, the idea of walking five miles per day may seem overwhelming to those just starting.
Garber states that walking 10,000 steps per day will have health benefits. “But, it is important to note that even small amounts of walking can have benefits and these benefits increase as you take more steps each day.”
Walking doesn’t help with weight loss
Garber suggests that you aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week rather than setting a goal of achieving a certain number of steps.
Walking slowly around the block won’t help you lose weight (although it burns more calories than binging on legal dramas). Sansone recommends HIIT, a high-intensity interval train, to lose weight while walking.
Walking steadily without running is a great way to lose weight.
Researchers at the University of Virginia discovered that overweight women who took three 30-minute walks with high intensity and two moderately-paced walks per week for twelve weeks lost six times as much belly fat as those who only walked five days per week. Another study showed that varying speeds could burn up to 20% more calories than keeping the same pace.
Sansone says it is easy to incorporate HIIT in your walking exercise. After a 5 minute warmup:
- Start walking at a steady pace for 30 seconds.
- Move at a faster pace for 4 minutes. The interval should be repeated four times.
- Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.
Walking is only for those who can’t run
Walking can be a “gateway” exercise that helps new runners improve cardiovascular fitness. However, not all walkers want running — that’s okay.
A study published by the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology showed that regular walkers had lower rates of high cholesterol, hypertension, and heart disease than those who ran.
Walking around the block can be a great start to a walking program, but you need to make sure you are logging enough time in your shoes to maximize the benefits. Garber recommends focusing on distance, duration and calorie expenditure. This is true for both runners and walkers.
Sansone states, “If you begin fitness walking today, it will immediately feel better and you will know that you are doing something good for yourself, your body, mind, and soul.”
Power walking is the only way to get results
Brisk walking is great for blood pressure, cholesterol, bone strength and lowering your risk of certain diseases such as heart disease or diabetes. You can burn more calories by increasing your pace. According to one study, walking 10,000 steps per hour at 4 miles an hour burns 153 calories less than walking the same distance at 2 miles an hour. For a good walking workout, speed is not necessary.
Walking longer distances may be more beneficial than walking briskly. A study published by Obesity Research showed that obese walkers burn more calories when they walk at two miles an hour than moving at twice the speed.
A walking workout should always include weights
Minard suggests that you think twice about putting on a pair of ankle weights. Minard explains that the weight further from the centre of mass (around our core), the more torque it creates and the stress it causes. “[While] bone, joints, and cartilage react to stress and loading by becoming stronger, it can also cause injuries.
Walking has to be a workout
Do not overlook the many benefits of taking a stroll. Walking has many mental health benefits. These include decreased depression, less anxiety, and lower rates of cognitive decline, regardless of how fast you walk. Research has shown that even one walk can improve mood.
Enjoy the moment and not feel guilty about going for a walk, whether you are counting your steps, keeping track of your heart rate or trying to burn calories.
