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Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier. Sometimes overlooked as a form of exercise, walking briskly can help you build stamina, burn excess calories and make your heart healthier. You do not have to walk for hours.
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A daily brisk walk can give your body a boost, lift your...
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Apr 11, 2024 · Brisk walking means picking up the pace to a point to where you could finish walking 3 to 4.5 miles in an hour. Continue reading to learn more about a brisk walking pace, the time and distance needed for calorie burning and weight loss, benefits, proper form, and adaptions for walking with a medical condition or impairment.
- Overview
- What’s considered brisk walking?
- 1. Target heart rate
- 2. Steps per minute
- 3. The talk test
- What are the benefits of brisk walking?
- How many calories can you burn from brisk walking?
- Ways to boost your calorie burn
- Technique
- Frequency
Brisk walking at a rate of 50-70% of your maximum heart rate, can be beneficial to your health. Calculate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220 beats per minute (bpm).
A brisk walk is one of the easiest and most effective cardio workouts. And, best of all, you likely already have everything you need to get started.
You can do a brisk, sweat-inducing walk indoors or outdoors and without any special equipment. A good pair of sneakers is about all you need to start reaping the many rewards of a fast-paced walk.
The key to getting a great workout with brisk walking is to maintain a pace that gives your heart and lungs a challenging workout, but not so hard that you run out of steam too quickly.
The term “brisk walking” is somewhat vague. Is it a little faster than your normal pace? Is it a lot faster?
To help firm up exactly what it means, there are several ways to measure your pace to make sure you’re in the “brisk” zone. Let’s take a closer look at three options for gauging whether you’re walking at the right pace.
One way to determine if you’re walking fast enough is to measure your heart rate.
A safe target heart rate while exercising, for most adults, is 50 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Exercising at your target heart rate means you’re getting the greatest benefit from your workout.
According to the American Heart Association:
•Your target heart rate during moderate-intensity exercise is around 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate.
•Your target heart rate during vigorous activity is about 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.
So, what exactly is your maximum heart rate, and how do you know what it is?
Another way to measure your pace is to count your steps.
A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that if you can walk at least 100 steps per minute, you’re walking fast enough to reap substantial fitness benefits.
Using a fitness tracker can help you keep track of your steps and how fast you’re walking.
Shop for a fitness tracker online.
A third way of figuring out your walking pace doesn’t require any math. Instead, to measure your pace, you start talking while you’re walking:
•If you can talk comfortably with some breathlessness, you’re probably walking at a moderate but brisk pace.
•If you can’t talk easily because you’re out of breath, the pace is probably vigorous.
•If you can sing out loud, the pace is likely too slow to be considered a brisk walk. If you can, try to pick up the pace.
Regular cardio exercise, like brisk walking, offers a wide range of physical and mental benefits. Some well-researched benefits include:
•Weight loss. Walking can help you lose excess weight by burning more calories, increasing lean muscle mass, and boosting your mood so you’re more likely to keep on walking.
•Improved cardiovascular health. According to a review of studies, walking 5 days a week can help lower your risk for heart disease. Regular cardio exercise may also help lower the levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol in your blood.
•Lower blood pressure. Research has found that regular cardio exercise may help lower your blood pressure.
•Lower blood sugar. Regular brisk walks can increase your insulin sensitivity. This means the cells in your muscles are better able to use insulin to draw in glucose for energy, both before and after you’ve exercised.
•Improved mental health. Research has also shown that exercise can boost self-esteem, improve sleep, build brain power, and more.
The rate at which you burn calories depends on several factors, including:
•your body weight
•your age
•your sex
•how much lean muscle you have
•the intensity at which you work out
Walk uphill
Adding inclines and hills to your walking route will require your heart, lungs, and muscles to work harder and therefore burn more calories. The advantage of walking on a treadmill is that you can set the incline of your walk. Many treadmills allow you to enter a preprogrammed course of inclines, declines, and flat surface.
Add interval training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves short bursts of vigorous exercise alternated with low-intensity recovery periods. For example, this could include walking uphill at a fast pace for 5 minutes followed by walking more slowly on flat terrain for 3 minutes, then repeating this pattern for 20 or 30 minutes. Studies have shown that HIIT workouts are an effective way of burning calories and reducing body fat in a shorter amount of time.
Carry hand weights
Light weights that don’t strain your arms can add extra effort to your walk and make you work a little harder.
To make the most of your brisk walk, and to avoid injury, try to use the following techniques when walking:
•Keep your head up, looking forward, not down.
•Relax your neck, shoulders, and back, but don’t slouch or lean forward.
•Keep your back straight, and engage your abdominal muscles.
•Walk with a steady gait, rolling your foot from heel to toe.
•Loosely swing your arms, or pump your arms a little with each stride.
The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.
If you follow the recommendation to exercise at a moderate pace for 150 minutes a week, a reasonable goal is to walk briskly for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
If walking for 30 minutes at a time is hard to fit into your schedule, you can break it down into three 10-minute walks or two 15-minute walks a day. It’s a good idea to spread activity throughout the week and to walk for at least 10 minutes at a time.
Although 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise is a good goal to shoot for each week, you’ll gain even more benefits if you do brisk walking for a longer duration.
- James Roland
May 10, 2024 · Brisk walking is a moderate-intensity exercise with bountiful fitness benefits. If you're wondering how fast you should walk to be considered a brisk speed, we have your answer: It depends on your fitness level. Learn what to do to improve your technique so you can boost your average walking speed. Benefits of Brisk Walking.
- Wendy Bumgardner
Aug 24, 2023 · Brisk walking is a low-cost and easy form of exercise people can use to increase their activity levels. Learn more about brisk walking and its benefits here.
Mar 17, 2023 · What Is Brisk Walking? Brisk walking means walking at a pretty good clip, though this looks different for everyone. For some, that may mean walking at a pace of 4 to 4.5 miles per hour, or the equivalent of a 13- to 15-minute mile, but the exact speed doesn’t really matter.
Mar 8, 2022 · Brisk walking is a good cardio exercise that tones the upper body. Learn the best brisk walking speed to burn calories, lose weight and improve heart health.
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