14 DAY TRIAL // It is already common knowledge that walking at a brisker pace can burn more calories and be more pleasant than, say, jogging or hitting the gym for some intense cardio, especially for those who don’t like sweating or putting too much of an effort into something at once. However, they too can now make the most of their favorite workout, thanks to a few easy tips courtesy of FitSugar.
Walking is an effective way to lose weight and stay in shape, countless studies have shown, even when not done in workout gear and simply in the form of a daily walk in the park with a friend. But that is not to say that there aren’t a couple of very useful things we should bear in mind to get better and faster results, the aforementioned source says. For starters, posture is a key element to the effectiveness of the workout, in whatever form it may come.
“Pay attention to your posture. Look straight ahead with your chin parallel to the ground, rather than looking down. Meanwhile, keep your shoulders down and back, away from your ears.” FitSugar explains. Simultaneously with keeping our posture in check, we are also working our abs without having to drop to the ground and do crunches. Suffice it that we stand up straight, making sure that our ribs stretch far away from the hips.
Other things that we can do to intensify our walk is to move the arms as much as possible. According to the fitness-oriented publication, this will help burn more calories by engaging more muscles, as opposed to walking normally, with the arms by the body. Also with the purpose of burning more calories in mind, we should also consider picking up the pace: the more steps we take, the more calories we shed, since this means we move past the moderate-exercise stage into the intensive one.
Last but not least, in order to make walking more efficient in terms of fitness, we should take to the hills – literally. “If you can, add some incline to your routine to burn even more fat and calories. Health [magazine] recommends first replacing 25 percent of your walk with small hills, then ramping up from there.” FitSugar adds. If we also remember the above-mentioned tips when taking to the hills (posture, and position and movement of the arms), the results of the morning or evening walk will certainly not fail to appear.