Pick up the pace
Walking in intervals is a great way to help you burn more calories and keep your walk interesting. When it comes to walking, there are three different paces:
- Stroll: Similar to window shopping, about a 3/4 difficulty on a scale of 10
- Brisk walking: Make a small effort here, about a 4/5 difficulty on a scale of 10
- Power walking: Moving with a purpose, about 5/6 difficulty on a scale of 10
Our experts recommend warming up with a stroll, then aiming for a brisk pace throughout your walk and pushing to a power walk pace every five minutes to get your heart rate up. See how long you can maintain a power walk pace and then try to increase it by a few seconds every time you go out for your walk. Power walking can make a big difference in your overall health.
Set a goal
How far can you walk in 30 minutes or in 1 hour? In order to optimize your walking pace, try to aim for 1.5 miles per 30 minutes and 3 miles per hour, which is a brisk pace of about 20 minutes per mile. If you can’t commit to walking for a full hour or 30 minutes, do what you can. Remember that anything is better than nothing when it comes to activity and even a short walk can tremendously contribute to your daily step count.
Our experts say it is also a good idea to set a goal for the number of walks you would like to reach per week and write them down so you can check off each walk as you go and feel a sense of accomplishment.