Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays. Now this week, we are talking to those of you who love walking. In fact, walking is your primary form of exercise. What things do you need to keep in mind if walking is how you get your workout in?
1) Vary The Intensity Throughout The Week
Our first tip if walking is your primary form of exercise is to vary the intensity throughout the week. Most people tend to walk at the same pace every time they go. They will do the same route or the same distance and take the same amount of time to do it. This means your intensity is not being varied, which means your body is not being challenged in different ways.
Action Step: Get a heart rate monitor and track how hard you are working on your walk through your heart rate. Find days throughout the week where you are walking with a higher heart rate and days when you are walking with a lower heart rate.
Related: Workout Burnout – How to keep your workouts fresh
2) Keep Your Feet Working Well
Our second tip if walking is your primary form of exercise is to keep the muscles of your feet working well. Oftentimes, external supports such as supportive shoes and orthotics are utilized when people are spending a lot of time on their feet. This is usually to try to make up for dysfunction within the muscles of the feet. But, by spending some time getting your foot muscles stronger and your feet working better as a whole, you may not have to utilize as much external support and can have your body functioning better overall.
Action Step: Schedule with your local Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) practitioner to get your foot muscles evaluated, and consider incorporating exercises like these to start strengthening your feet.
Related: 5 Non-Medical Tips to Help Improve Plantar Fasciitis
3) Do Total-Body Resistance Training
Our third tip if walking is your primary form of exercise is to do total-body resistance training multiple times throughout your week. Walking is an amazing way to exercise, but it does not fill every category of stimulus that your body needs from exercise. For example, your arms get very little stimulation and your legs are worked in the same manner every time. Especially for you avid walkers, getting a minimum of two days per week of resistance training will help keep your entire body strong and functioning well so you can keep walking.
Action Step: Want a done-for you workout program that you can follow right from home? Check out The MAS At-Home Workout Program!
