How fit can you really get from walking Think running and HIIT are the only ways to get fit? Walking can actually improve cardiovascular fitness, according to the experts. Here are the benefits of your daily walks. We all know that getting out the house for some activity can make us feel better, but that doesn’t mean we always have the energy for explosive interval training or the stamina for a long run. But can you improve your fitness with just a daily walk?
“One of the main false assumptions people make about walking is that they can’t get fit from it,” says Joanna Hall, founder of Walk Active. “In fact, it’s one of the most accessible forms of exercise for the majority of people, and suitable for any stage or phase of life.” Kerry Dixon, founder of The Athlete Method, agrees. “There’s this notion that if you’re not dying after exercise, it doesn’t count. That’s not the case, and it’s not always a true indicator of improving your fitness,” she says.
Whether it’s simply a way to break up your HOW DOES WALKING IMPROVE FITNESS? work day or to loosen your stiff muscles, walking has become a go-to for everyone over Exercising to improve your fitness is going to the past year. be different depending on your exercise experience and what your body can And it comes with a lot of health withstand. But, generally, walking can help to advantages, too. A study published in the keep you fit, or improve your fitness. British Journal of Sports Medicine found that those who adhered to a walking program “The body adapts to what you do most often, showed significant improvements in blood so if you are someone who runs all the time, pressure, reduced cholesterol, improved walking probably won’t improve your depression scores with better quality of life endurance, but it can support other elements and increased measures of endurance. of fitness, including mental fitness”. Yet despite the benefits of walking, it’s not often thought of as a way to improve your physical fitness. Instead, we tend to focus more on running or HIIT as the best ways to improve cardiovascular health and endurance. Could that be an oversight?
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The reason being that “the more you increase your heart rate and breathing through exercise, even if it’s only slightly, the more efficient your body gets at these things,” Kerry explains. “Walking requires more blood and oxygen to circulate throughout the body so your muscles can move, and the more you practice, the stronger these organs get. Effectively, it makes the body more efficient and means they don’t have to work as hard.”
