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The term “power walking” might make you think of days past, it's so back. Walking in general is beyond popular right now because this low-impact exercise has a bunch of benefits—both mental and physical.
And while walking is great for you in general, some walking speeds and styles are more beneficial for your health than others. One way to power up your next walk? You guessed it: Turn your walk into a power walk. Here’s how.
Why power walking is so good for you
First things first, power walking gives you all of the benefits of walking like boosting your mood, conditioning your heart, and strengthening your muscles, but turned up a notch. This is because power walking increases the intensity of a walk and therefore demands more of your heart and body, says Alexander Rothstein, CSCS, an exercise physiologist.
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A more intense walk taxes your cardiorespiratory system more, turns over more oxygen, and burns more calories. It also should help improve blood pressure and blood glucose levels, says Richardson. All in all, a power walk is a more efficient way to get the benefits of walking.
What constitutes a power walk?
A power walk is more than a leisurely stroll, experts say. “You're putting in effort beyond what would normally be a comfortable walking pace,” says Rothstein.
In fact, while the actual miles per hour will be different for everyone, a power walk should be done at your maximum walking pace. Basically, in addition to a few other form techniques (more on that in a sec), the key to power walking is simply walking as fast as you can.
If you’re a beginner, good news: You’ll see benefits with as few as 10 minutes of power walking.
So how do you know if you’re in a power-walking zone? If you think about your effort on a scale from one to 10 (also known as the rate of perceived exertion, or RPE, scale), you should be at a seven, says Laura A. Richardson, PhD, a professor of applied exercise science at the University of Michigan. Physically, you’ll feel your heart rate increase and start to breathe heavier—and you might notice your calves feel more engaged.
Sample power walk routine for beginners
Warm-up (five minutes): Before you start power walking, it’s important to do a warm-up, says Richardson. All that entails is walking at your natural, slower pace before kicking it up a gear.
Power walk (10 minutes): Now that your body is moving and blood is flowing, increase your pace to your maximum walking pace, making sure you engage arms and core and ideally varying your incline.
Cooldown (five minutes): Return to your natural walking pace.
Good luck, get walking!
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