The term “speed walking” refers to exactly what it sounds like: a style of walking that is done at a rapid clip in order to raise heart rate and get in shape. Because of its lesser impact compared to running and jogging, it is a great option for people who are new to working out or who have joint problems. This is a great approach to exercise regardless of your fitness level.
Here, we’ll discuss the many forms of speed walking as well as the basics you’ll need to get started.
Why Do People Speed walk?
The term “speed walking” is used to denote walking at a rate of 15 minutes or more per mile. Various other phrases, including “brisk walking” and “power walking,” are also used to refer to rapid foot movement.
Included here are a wide range of walking speeds, from the slow stroll to the Olympic-style racing walk, in which participants can reach speeds of up to 6 minutes per mile.
Gains from Walking Faster
Cardiovascular fitness, fat loss, and calorie burning are just few of the areas where speed walking excels.
When walking at a moderate to vigorous pace, your heart rate rises. Cardiovascular exercise is highly effective in preventing heart disease and other long-term conditions like diabetes.
Like other forms of cardiovascular exercise, speedwalking can help you reach your weight loss and energy balance goals by increasing your metabolic rate. Faster walking has been linked to smaller waist sizes and lower body mass indexes.
Several characteristics, including body composition, ethnicity, color, gender, and age, are ignored by the outdated and biased body mass index (BMI).
Despite its limitations, body mass index (BMI) is commonly employed in modern medicine as a quick and cheap indicator of health.
A Guide to Speed walk
Increasing your walking workout pace is what speed walking and power walking entail. But before you worry about getting faster, you need get educated on fast-walking mechanics to make sure you don’t hurt yourself.
Increased walking velocity can be achieved through the use of proper walking posture, efficient arm motions, and other minor adjustments. By making these little adjustments, you can swiftly cut two to four minutes off your mile time, which equates to an increase in pace of between half a mile per hour and a mile per hour.
The key is to take strides in which your weight is evenly distributed between your heel and toes, and your trailing foot gets a decent push off. One common error people make when trying to walk quicker is overstriding, which must be avoided.
Having the proper footwear is also crucial to speed walking. In order to develop speed and make the most of the proper foot motion, shoes should be flat, flexible, and lightweight. Wearing loose-fitting athletic clothes that don’t restrict movement is also beneficial.
The Varieties of Speed walk
Different types of speed walking may or may not involve the use of specialized tactics, and some may even be considered legitimate sports.
Rapid arm motions are used in power walking. The bending of the arms is a crucial movement. To avoid utilizing sloppy, exaggerated actions that will burn you out without reducing your mile time, it is crucial to acquire the right fast-walking arm motion.
Racewalking is a competitive sport that follows a strict set of regulations and is judged on a formal technique. When the front foot first makes contact with the ground and continues forward until it passes underneath the torso, the knee remains completely straight. Racewalkers keep one foot on the ground at all times and add arm mobility to increase their pace. The method creates a signature rolling motion of the hips.
Racewalking in the Olympic form has been contested in the Summer Games every year since 1906. It’s an extreme sport with distances ranging from 20 to 50 kilometers for both men and women. Elite Olympic-level racewalkers can maintain a 6-minute mile.
Many people feel that the best way to master the non-natural motion required for competitive racewalking is to work one-on-one with a coach in person.
Protecting Yourself When Jogging Rapidly
Always start your workouts with a 5 minute warm-up at a slow pace, followed by some moderate stretches to prevent injuries. Only after this should you begin the fast portion of your walk. A good stretching routine after exercise can help reduce muscle discomfort and prevent injuries.
Start incorporating speed-walking tactics into your routine by alternating between brief periods of quick walking and more relaxed strolling. Stamina can be built and issues like muscular strain and shin splints avoided with a steady increase in speed-walking intervals.
Avoid Shin Splints by Taking Precautions
When beginning a brisk walk, almost everyone feels pain in the front of their lower leg, known as shin pain. Despite the common name, this is not the same thing as shin splints. Painful inflammation of the shin’s muscles, tendons, and bone tissue is called shin splints, and it’s thought that overuse and repetitive stress are to blame. It’s usually linked to strenuous physical activity like jogging.
Most walkers get shin pain from muscle fatigue. When walking quickly, the shin muscles work even harder to keep the toes lifted during landing and then to slowly and softly lower them to the ground. When you slow down or halt, the pain or burning sensation normally subsides, and it completely disappears as the muscles get conditioned.
Stretching your calves and pointing and flexing your feet might assist, as can going slowly at first and then up speed gradually. Those who experience persistent pain should see a doctor.
Wearable weights should be used with caution.
For those who want to increase their caloric burn or upper-body strength, power walkers may utilize hand weights. However, physical therapists caution that wearing ankle weights might put unnecessary stress on the neck, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Ankle weights and other forms of weighted footwear can further increase the likelihood of strain and injury and should be avoided. Strength training should be done on a separate day, thus experts recommend not using weights until then.
