Relax your neck, shoulders, and back. Although your posture should be strong, your body should not be held too stiffly as you walk. Walking with good posture improves your blood circulation, and can even help lower your blood pressure.
Walking is different from running. Your feet should never lift off the ground completely at the same time. Find a stride that’s comfortable for you. If you’re losing track of the heel-to-toe motion, and aren’t rolling your feet consistently, you may need to slow down.
Go slowly up stairs, moving in slow and deliberate motions. Avoid wearing heels too frequently, as this can encourage knee hyperextension.
Swaying your hips puts unnecessary stress on your hip flexors, which can lead to pain and cramping.
Since we all have legs of different lengths, our strides are going to be somewhat different. Use the stride that’s best for you.
If this is your first time walking for exercise, take a few extra minutes to warm up first. That way, you’ll avoid over-exerting yourself, which could lead to injury.
Even though walking is a low-impact exercise, your muscles, joints and feet must adjust to new activity levels to avoid soreness and injury. Motivate yourself by remembering that you can burn about 400 calories from a brisk walk, although it takes about 5 miles to do so. If you want to lose weight, it’s a good idea to also reduce how many calories you eat per day and to eat healthier unprocessed foods. Try to add 2,000 steps into your daily routine when you first start walking. Sometimes you can add steps just by making small lifestyle choices every single day, such as taking the stairs at work when you could take the elevator. If you don’t see weight loss right away, it might be because you are starting to build up muscle, which is good. Be patient, and you will see results over the course of time. Slowly add more steps each week.
Walking should be a moderate-intensity aerobic activity. This means that you’ve broken a sweat and your heart rate has risen. How can you tell if you’re walking fast enough? You should be able to talk but not sing a song while you’re walking. Three miles per hour is a good pace if you’re walking to improve your health. If you’re walking to lose weight, pick up the pace to 4 miles in an hour, which is a 15-minute mile.
One benefit of walking is that you don’t need a lot of specialized equipment to do it. You can walk wherever you are, even if you are on vacation. You don’t need to be in great shape to start doing it. Walking daily (or almost daily) helps prevent heart disease, control the risk of diabetes, and can even lower your blood pressure. [11] X Trustworthy Source American Heart Association Leading nonprofit that funds medical research and public education Go to source
Shoot for walking 10,000 steps a day. Record your steps every day and figure out your daily and weekly average. The goal is for the average to go up gradually as your endurance increases and you walk more.
Shoes suitable for walking should bend through the ball of the feet pretty easily while still being fairly durable. Choose a shoe with a low heel. High tops are not a great choice for walking unless they are specifically designed for walking or hiking, which a few of them are.
Beware of the sun, depending on the season and climate. If it’s sunny, be sure to wear sunscreen and cover up with a hat. Wear a jacket if it’s cold or might rain. Make sure that you look at the weather forecast before walking so you’re dressed appropriately for the temperature.
