Want to get in shape for summer, but you can’t imagine fitting one more thing into your busy schedule? Walking is the perfect workout to maximize cardiovascular gains while minimizing time requirements, equipment needs—and your waistline. The journey to a healthier summer body begins with just one step. Walking is a low-impact cardiovascular exercise that can be done anywhere, anytime, and is versatile enough to be done by people at every level of fitness.

Whether you’re adverse to exercise or a seasoned athlete, the benefits of a consistent walking program are countless. In fact, walking can burn more fat than running. Walking also has a very low risk of injury, especially when compared to running, and walking noticeably reduces heart disease by decreasing blood pressure and lowering low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) while raising high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (“good” cholesterol), and that’s just a few of the benefits of walking.

Walking also encourages your cardiovascular system to work more efficiently while promoting weight loss. Did you know that losing just 10 pounds can decrease your LDL levels by as much as 12% and increase your HDL levels by 18%? In fact, every two pounds of weight loss results in a 2 mmHg drop in blood pressure—all of which are great reasons to get moving. Some women even discover that they can reduce or quit blood pressure medication after experiencing an overall 5% loss in total body weight.

So Long, Sweat?
For years people thought sweaty, heart pounding exercise was the only way to reap benefits, but recent studies have proven that this isn’t true. One study showed that walking three or more hours every week cut women’s risk of heart disease by 30%, and five or more hours cut this risk by an incredible 40%. Experts recommend 30 minutes or more of exercise most or all days of the week, according to recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Don’t have time for a 30-minute walk each day? Make it achievable by breaking it up into two 15-minute or three 10-minute walks throughout the day. Park your car a short distance away from your office. Or walk an entire lap around the mall before you begin to shop. Look for opportunities to get active: Take the stairs when you’ve got only three flights to go; get outside for a walk immediately following dinner; make it habit to put one form of activity into every weekend, whether it’s a walk in the park or bicycling with friends.

If you’re new to exercise, or getting back into it after taking some time off, start with a five- to eight-minute walk daily gradually increasing over a few weeks to 30 minutes. And remember, to decrease your risk of injury and maximize your results, always warm up and cool down at a slower pace for 1/3 of your total workout time. For example, for a 30-minute walk, you should warm up at a steadily increasing pace for five minutes, walk for 20 minutes, then cool-down at a slower pace for five minutes.

Challenge yourself to take more steps. Investing in a pedometer is an excellent way to monitor your activity while allowing you to set achievable, measurable goals. After calibrating the pedometer to your step length, establish a baseline by recording the number of steps you take each day for three days. Average those three days together, and this is your baseline from which to set goals. Challenge yourself to add 10%—so if you’re at 8,000 steps, try adding another 800, until you’ve reached 10,000 steps daily or 70,000 steps weekly. Walking 10,000 steps daily might sound like a large feat, but it’s not. Couch potatoes typically tread 2,000 to 4,000 steps daily; busier, more active women log about 5,000 to 6,000 steps. The extra 4,000 steps can be achieved with 30 minutes of added daily activity.


Running versus walking
You can burn more calories walking than running over the same distance. Why? It takes longer to walk a mile than to run one, so you raise your metabolism for a longer period of time. Walking is a fat burner, particularly when you maintain 60% of your Max Heart Rate. Working out at 60% to 65% of your heart rate gives you maximum fat-burning benefits; anything higher is strictly aerobic. A study published in the December 2000 Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness measured calorie expenditure in 15 young, healthy women, and found that walking at speeds equal to or greater than 5 mph (a 12-minute mile) burned more calories than running at the same speed! That’s because walking at this pace is difficult; it’s actually easier for the body to run, which is another reason you can burn more calories walking.

Fitness walking
Forget huffing and puffing; follow these guidelines for optimal fitness walking: when stepping out, reach with your heel. As you move forward, extend your other leg fully behind you. Keep your pelvis in a “neutral” position (tilted slightly forward, not tucked under). Hold your abdomen in and relax your shoulders back. Let your arms swing to provide balance. Look straight ahead, not up or down. Propel yourself with the strength of your legs and buttocks, your upper body is along for the ride.

About the Authors: Chrissy McCullough, PT, MS, and Nicole Sutherland, PT, MS, are physical therapists and co-owners of Watermark Physical Therapy in Plano, Texas.