Walking is great exercise for the lower body, but it doesn't target all of your leg muscles equally. It is good to crosstrain with bicycling or to do balanced lower body workouts a couple of times a week.
Racewalking involves even more lower body muscle groups than "regular" walking and may be the perfect lower body exercise in and of itself.
Increasing your time or distance may bring on the aches and pains that show your muscles are growing and adjusting to your walking activity. But you may wish to do some additional exercises, especially toe raises to build your shins, to prepare you for walking.
Lower Body Workouts
- Short Lower Body Workout: These simple lower body exercises, from our Exercise Guide, target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, hips, and calves.
- Lower Body Circuit Blast: Change things up by switching to this routine after a few weeks of using the Lower Body Workout.
Lower Body Exercises
- Toe Raises The key exercise if you encounter shin pain.
- Standing Calf Raises
- Gluteus Exercises
- Hamstrings: Exercises, Stretches, Injuries
