If you want to improve your fitness, walking is a great choice. It’s free, simple, and adaptable to your schedule. If you’ve been relatively sedentary, you might find that you can’t walk very far at first without getting sore or out-of-breath. You just have to keep at it! If you try to walk a little further every day, you’ll find that your walking stamina gradually improves. If you don’t have the patience for that, there are a few other tricks you can try to help you reach your goals faster.
Walk for at least 30 minutes 3 to 5 days a week. Going for regular walks improves your cardiovascular fitness gradually, but don’t sweat it if you can’t walk this long initially. Over time, your body will get used to a certain level of activity, and that makes it easier for you to walk longer.
If the outdoors aren’t available to you this often or if the weather is unsuitable, use a treadmill or stationary bike inside instead.
Always warm up before you start exercising. Start with static stretches, where you only stretch one muscle at a time. Then, move into dynamic stretches, like high-knees and jumping jacks, which gradually get your heart rate up.
Go on a longer walk at least one day a week. Plan a longer walk for at least one of your sessions so you can gradually push your endurance. When you first start, the distance will likely be relatively short. However, as you progress, the distance will grow (as will the time commitment).
For example, when you first start out, you may only be able to walk 2 miles (3.2 km) without getting tired. That would be your long walk. Each week, increase your long walk by 0.5 mi (0.80 km).
Don’t worry about where you start — just focus on improving a little each week.
Walk at a brisk pace of about 3 miles (4.8 km) per hour. This pace is faster than a stroll, but likely not the fastest you can walk. If you download a step app for your smartphone or smartwatch, it will help you keep pace.
Listening to music while you walk can help you keep the pace. There are some smartphone apps, such as PaceDJ and RockMyRun, that will help you plan your playlist to include songs with the correct number of beats per minute to keep you on pace.
Vary terrain and elevation to change the level of resistance. Walking on grass or sand is more difficult than walking on a paved walking trail. Including plenty of hills on your route helps build your stamina as well.
When walking uphill, lean forward slightly to ease the weight on your leg muscles. Slow your pace as you head downhill and take shorter steps to avoid putting too much strain on your knees.
Carry weight while walking. If you only have a short period of time to walk, add resistance to work on your stamina. You can buy ankle and wrist weights at sporting goods or department stores (or online), but this type of equipment isn’t strictly necessary. You can also simply put a few books or solid objects in a backpack and carry that.
Keep track of the amount of weight you’re carrying so you can increase it incrementally. For example, you might walk with 10 pounds for 1 week, then start carrying 15 pounds.
After you’ve been walking with weight for a few weeks, try walking without the weight and see how much further you can go.