Question: Should I Vary My Walking Workout?
Question: I walk every day. I have 2 different walking routes. One is very flat, and the other way has some incline to it. Is it good to vary your walking workouts?
Answer: Yes! Workout variety is a key to fitness, recovery, and building endurance and muscles.
Easy - Hard Workout Variety
You should alternate easy days with harder days. Easy vs. hard comes in three variables:Distance: A hard distance day is one of long, slow distance. This is your mileage-building day. If you are training for a half-marathon or marathon, this is done one day each week, adding 1 mile per week or 2 miles every two weeks.
Speed: A hard day is one done with a speed workout, but often at your standard or shorter distance.
Intensity: A hard day for intensity would be one with hills or on a rough trail. These workout muscles you don't use on flat and/or smooth surface walks.
Walking Workouts
• Health Walk: This is the Easy day walk, use it the day after one of the Hard walks for recovery.• Fat-Burning Walk: The optimal fat-burning zone still qualifies as an easy day, you can use it in exchange with the Health Walk as a recovery day after a Hard day.
• Distance Walk: This is a Hard day due to building distance. You should follow it the next day with an easy walk day or a rest day.
• Aerobic Walk: This walk brings up your heart rate into the training zone and builds aerobic capacity. It is a moderately Hard day.
• Threshold Walk: This walk brings you to your top heart rate for training and builds the body systems to allow you to walk faster. It is a Hard day.
• Economy Speed Walk: This walk builds speeds through little sprints. It is a Hard day.
• Ideal Weekly Schedule: If you are already walking 5 or more daysper week for 60 minutes or more, this schedule can turn your walking into a true fitness program.
Walking Workout Tools
• Heart Rate Zone Calculator• Walking Calorie CalculatorsMore Walking Q&A
