Are you needing to find ways to stay active this winter and keep away the extra fluff during colder temperatures? Walking just 30 minutes a day can increase your daily calorie burn, so imagine the accumulation of calories burned by the end of the week just by walking daily. But turning that walk into a workout could bring an even higher calorie burn for those wanting to get more out of the walk than just a leisure stroll.
Mixing up your speed during a walk not only increases the calorie burn that helps you burn fat. By adding intervals to your walk, you could burn up to 20% more calories than those who just maintain a consistent speed. You could increase your walking speed for instance, by walking for two minutes and then walking faster or jogging for 30 seconds, repeating this pattern for the duration of your walk. You could also pick light posts on a street in your neighborhood, walking slower at one light post, and then walking at a quicker pace the next light post and continue this pattern for the remainder of your walk.
Adding strength training to your walk could improve your fitness and burns even more calories. For instance, you could walk three minutes and then perform 30 seconds of a different activity such as lunges, squats, jumping jacks or other resistance exercises. You could also carry some handweights as you walk to have a more vigorous workout, and then perform upper body exercises along your route as well. This type of exercise can increase your heart rate up to 10 bpm and increase oxygen consumption, adding to the number of calories burned during a workout.
Listening to music while walking or exercising can be a good distraction for those who want to reduce their perception of fatigue, walk further or faster. Listening to faster music around a tempo of 170 to 190 bpm will provide a great Way to increase your speed and push yourself than you might normally. Try listening to some motivating music while going faster or while walking briskly up a hill. Create a playlist of music that you like and find motivating and take with you on your walks.
Change your routine by adding more variation on in your terrain such as stairs, gravel, hills and sand. Adding this variety help with your balance as well as use different muscle groups which can build strength overall in the legs, gluteus, and core.
Lastly, you could consider a backpack or a weighted vest for an extra workout challenge on your walks. The extra weight like resistance workouts, has benefits of increased bone density, caloric burn and core strength.
Add variety to walks to keep you motivated and challenged. Start slowly no matter which variety you decide to add to your walking routine. Most importantly, keep active by moving, walking indoors or outdoors and keep the winter blues and extra fluff away.
Winter Walking
