Walking workout series, week 1: Fitness walking

When beginning your programme, aim for 30 minutes of walking at least three times a week. Go for shorter, more intense walks rather than long, leisurely strolls if improved fitness and maximum calorific expenditure are your goals. During your walks, you should be comfortably uncomfortable – or in other words, you should be able to carry on a conversation with someone. The best workouts are those where you feel like you’re working hard but aren’t gasping for breath.

Start with the following routine and see how it goes. Feel free to increase the number of times you walk or the duration of your workout if you feel up to it. If you’re really short on time, you can break up your walking sessions into three, 10-minute bits. However, these shorter spurts of exercise aren’t ideal because you’re not stressing your cardiovascular and muscular systems in the same way as the 30-minute session. No matter how you design your walking routine, make sure you rest for at least two to three days during the week, especially if you haven’t been exercising recently.

Before and after your walk, Salzmann recommends including a three- to five-minute warm-up and cool-down consisting of calf, quad, ankle and hamstring stretches. Allow yourself at least three minutes of easy walking when you start, then slowly build up to a higher intensity so you don’t strain or injure yourself. Now, try our sample weekly workout plan.

Monday: Walk for 30 minutes
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Walk for 30 minutes
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Walk for 30 minutes
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Choose another exercise besides walking. Cross training – or varying the kind of workouts you do – can actually help you reach your weight-loss goals and constantly ensure that your muscles work to their maximum capacity. Feel free to mix and match other fitness activities into your workout throughout the week.

Good luck.

Check out our week 2 series on interval training for your next walking workout.