Walking

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Walking is one of the most popular forms of exercise in the entire world. And deservedly so. It is a great, low impact way to get active that offers a host of health benefits if done regularly. It can improve heart health, lower blood pressure, and increase bone density just to name a few. Other forms of exercise offer similar benefits, but what makes walking unique is just how accessible it is. Almost anyone, regardless of your fitness level, can get into walking and all it takes to get started is a good pair of shoes and a safe place to do so.

The Basics

Walking is classified as a conditioning exercise since it is best used for improving cardiovascular capacity and muscular endurance. It mostly involves the hips and legs.

The Basics

Walking is primarily used to improve your cardio. By changing the level of intensity, duration, and/or intervals, you can target different adaptations. Longer, less intense sessions improve your aerobic capacity while shorter, more intense sessions (often done as intervals) improve your power and anaerobic capacity.

Form

Tips

• Stand up straight
• Hold your head high
• Move your shoulders naturally
• Swing your arms naturally with a slight bend in your elbows
• Look forward
• Keep your core slightly engaged
• Walk smoothly, rolling your foot from heel to toe

Common Mistakes

Heel Strike

Be sure to smoothly transfer the impact from each step, rolling your foot from your heel to your toe. Absorbing the impact of each step on just your heel is much less efficient and can lead to injury.

Looking Down

While watching where you're stepping is definitely important, do your best to look more forward rather than down. This will help with your overall posture and make your walking more efficient.

Additional Info

Race Walking, Power Walking, and Brisk Walking

You may have heard all these different terms at some point and wondered what the difference is, or if there even is a difference. While they all refer to walking quickly, they are all somewhat different.

Race Walking

The fastest, and most different from normal walking, race walking is a competitive sport. Usually done for long distances, race walking races are monitored so that contestants always appear to have at least one foot in contact with the ground. The form is markedly different from that of normal walking, characterized by straight legs and hip rotation. Elite race walkers can maintain speeds of around 6 minutes per mile.

Power Walking

Power walking is like a less extreme version of race walking. It doesn't allow for the straight legs and hip rotation, instead emphasizing arm motion and speed while keeping a more natural walking form. Power walkers usually maintain speeds of around 10-15 minutes per mile.

Brisk Walking

Defined by the CDC as a pace at which you should be able to talk, but not sing, what makes for a brisk walk isn't that clear cut. However, a brisk walk is meant to be moderate intensity and put you at about 70% of your max heart rate. For most people, a brisk walk will be somewhere between 15 to 20 minutes to walk a mile.

Progression

There are many ways to improve while walking. You can try to walk farther, for a longer time, at a quicker pace, over more difficult terrain, or even add weight. Wearing a weighted vest is the best way to add weight, but holding light dumbbells is commonly done as well.

10,000 Steps

According to the CDC, most adults should aim to get 10,000 steps per day. Depending on your fitness level though, anywhere between 7,000 and 13,000 may be appropriate.

Related Exercises

Reviews

Performance Standard Ranks

The ranks assume that you are generally healthy, with no underlying health conditions or injuries and have the mobility to perform the exercise correctly. You can determine your rank by comparing your numbers to the tables below. Your rank is also tracked automatically when using our Workout Log feature.

Cardio Standards By Distance

The table shows the maximum time needed to reach each of the cardio ranks at different distances. The times on the table are based on competition data, world records, and the average time needed to attain each rank. To see personalized cardio standards for multiple exercises, check out the Cardio Standards page. You can also find your Cardio Score to see how you rank as part of our Fitness Score System.