There’s no doubt that walking is good for the body and mind. Among its benefits: it can help you maintain or lose weight, improve your mood and enhance your coordination, suggests MayoClinic.org. If you’re walking for weight loss, however, you’ve probably found that it takes a lot of time to burn a significant amount of calories — especially compared to other forms of exercise. Walking at a moderate pace of 4 miles per hour burns about 334 calories for a 155-pound person, only a little more than half of what you might burn by jogging at a slow 5 miles per hour.
If jogging fills you with a sense of dread, don’t fear; that’s not the only way to rev up your routine and help you burn calories faster. Instead, try a few other techniques that can help you get more out of your daily walk.
Jump the Curbs
When you’re walking in an urban environment, incorporate a form of plyometrics — a training technique meant to improve muscle power. Instead of simply stepping up onto the sidewalk curbs, jump up and onto them with one or both feet. Do the same when you need to step off a curb. You might look a little funny to your neighbors, but you’ll be building strength and agility that can help you during regular activities. It can also give you an edge during that pickup basketball game or when you’re playing volleyball on the beach.
Walking Lunges
Add intensity and build strength in your quads, glutes, and hamstrings by doing a few sets of walking lunges throughout your walk. Muscle burns calories more efficiently than fat, so building leg muscle is never a bad thing.
Pick a single block or a short stretch of trail and simply step forward with one foot while you lower the opposite knee toward the ground. Stand back up and then step forward with the other leg, repeating the lunge movement. Perform 10 to 20 repetitions with each leg, and then go back to walking. Later in the walk, do a second set of 10 to 20 repetitions.
Hill Repeats
If your route only includes flat terrain, it may be time to elevate yourself. Some of the most beautiful views in the countryside and the cities can be found at the top of a hill — and you’ll burn more calories getting there. If you only have a small hill to work with, go up and down it a few times in a row. Also, look for indoor or outdoor staircases that you can walk or jog up a few times in a row. Those short bouts of intensity are a milder form of high-intensity interval training or “HIIT,” touted as a way to increase your metabolism the rest of the day.
Occasional Sprints
There’s another way to perform HIIT workouts, even if you don’t have access to hills. Every few blocks or every five to 10 minutes, break out into a full-on sprint for 15 – 30 seconds. Don’t think about it — just start sprinting whenever the mood strikes you. Ideally, you’ll do this six to eight times throughout your walk but start with just one or two. Since you’re pushing your body to near-max intensity, you’ll be burning a lot more calories, as well as improving your aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels much faster than you will by just walking.
By incorporating one or all of these easy techniques, you’ll be taking your walks to the next level — even while spending the same amount of time on your workouts as you have in the past.
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