If you’re walking for exercise, there are additional ways you can push yourself in your workout. Adding a weighted vest or even walking with an incline on the treadmill can give you more of a challenge. Avera Sports Science Director, Derek Ferley explains the benefits of each and which one will help you reach your goals.
Are there benefits to inclined walking?
“When you start to walk uphill, you’re definitely going to recruit more muscle, you’re going to increase your heart rate, you’ll definitely increase your work output, so as you go uphill, you’ll use the same muscles, however you’re going to ask them to do a bit more. Compared to level-grade walking, which is great, the incline is going to force you to recruit more of your musculature and then over time you might end up strengthening those muscles perhaps a little more than if you were just level-grade walking,” said Ferley.
What muscles are you using?
“Primarily your calves, your quads, your hamstrings, and your glutes, and depending upon how you’re walking, if you’re walking tall and upright you’ll even get some core recruitment in there as well,” said Ferley.
Should you add a weighted vest?
“If you add a weighted vest while you are walking uphill, you will increase your work effort and your work output. You’ll just have to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze so to speak because the research shows that you’ll expend an additional 12-15% of effort, but you have to keep in mind that if you’re exercising for say a half hour and burning 200 calories, you’re talking about an additional maybe 20 calories. So therefore if you are going to use a weighted vest, you probably want to only introduce that after you’ve established a certain minimum of strength and conditioning that comes with some time having spent doing some other exercise,” said Ferley.
How do I get started?
“I would definitely start with just doing some level-grade walking, walking around the neighborhood and then as you become more fit and want to add a bit more of a challenge, maybe once or twice a week be sure that your route contains some moderate hills or inclines, or if you want to pursue a workout that you’re using a treadmill, maybe go about using a consistent grade. Start out with a relatively small grade with 2.5-5%, do that for a couple minutes, come down to a flat, and then go back up to 2.5-5%, maybe 7.5%,” said Ferley.
Learn more about the benefits of walking.
