Speed walking can be a form of exercise that can be just as helpful as the gym<\/a>. Your heart and body will respond to this low-impact exercise by giving you many benefits. We’ll discuss how to speed walk, the benefits, and what you need to know to better understand speed walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed walking is basically walking faster, so you’re getting through a mile in about 15 minutes or so for the average person. Most people who are walking faster keep their normal walking style and make it faster. However, to maximize efficiency, you want to move your arms and legs correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speeding how you normally walk may leave you tired quickly and can also lead to injury. Later, we’ll review the two techniques that are most helpful for walking fast. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n To determine if you are walking fast, a smartwatch<\/a> or phone can help. Otherwise, notice how your heartbeat increases and your breathing gets more rapid. Normally, the average person walks at 3.1 mph. (wikipedia.org<\/a>) So you should try for 4 mph to get your heartbeat up. This will get you 1 mile every 15 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Walking fast can be considered a moderate type of exercise, but only if it’s a sustained raised heartbeat over time. The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of exercise a week or about 22 minutes of fast walking each day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you feel like you can still talk but need to take breaths between your sentences, that is probably the right speed, if your heart has accelerated to “50 to 70 percent of” your maximum heart rate, then you are achieving moderate exercise. (betterhealth.vic.gov.au<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason many fast walkers want to speed walk is so they can maximize their health benefits and still have a low-impact workout. We’ll discuss these benefits in more detail later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever your goals are, during your speed walk, you can achieve them through different styles of walking fast. Let’s talk about what you need to know to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most any kind of walking shoe should be fine if you’re just starting out, although some of the following characteristics will ensure you can speed walk more effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You’ll want to have the right shoe that can land on your heel and roll to your toes to push off when walking fast. A flexible walking shoe with the specific qualities that you are looking for will aid you in walking fast for longer periods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you get a general walking shoe, it may already have many of these qualities, but after using it for a week, you may decide you need something more suited to your fast walking needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I like these Sketches for beginner fast walkers because they are comfortable, have a low heel drop, and the heel and toes are shaped so the foot can roll nicely. They are light at 8.8oz and people seem to like that they slip on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s helpful to practice your fast walking technique before you decide to purchase new shoes. Your current shoes may work fine, but if they don’t, they can tell you a lot about what you don’t want and will need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Going to a shoe store that specializes in running and walking shoes can be very helpful in getting the type of shoe that is best suited to your needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When learning to walk faster, you may naturally start to move your legs and arms faster. You’ll need to modify how you walk normally if you are to achieve fast walking for long periods, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like running, faster walking requires you to have more balance between your upper and lower body. You will need to move your arms in conjunction with your legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legs won’t bend as much as running, and you won’t need to lift your foot off the ground much. You will be extending your legs more by pushing off with your toes and landing on your heels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to get your heartbeat going faster for a longer period, you need to make sure not to wear yourself out. Fully extending your legs as you push off of your toes and land on your heel will make your job much easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of a bouncy motion that might occur as with running, you will work toward a smooth forward motion<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This may come naturally to you as you walk faster, but if you’re like me you’ll need some practice to make sure you are doing it right. I’m used to running and want to bend my knee, but fast walking requires a fairly straight leg<\/strong> for efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you practice rolling your foot from the heel to toes<\/strong> in one easy motion, your walking will start to feel like less effort is needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You will be losing very little energy. Your large muscle groups will be using energy efficiently and your fine motor muscles may be a bit achy after your walk since you will be using them more than normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can start off slow by swinging your arms the opposite of your feet as you take each step. Walk slowly and get the hang of swinging your arms and taking normal steps forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When fast walking, the goal is to move forward efficiently<\/strong> and take longer strides once you are ready to. That way, when you land on your heel, you won’t strike the ground hard, which could lead to problems later on.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will have your legs mostly extended with a bit of a bend in your knees. It should be fairly comfortable and not like your overly exaggerating any movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Try speed walking for about 5 minutes the first time<\/strong>. Wait a day and see how you feel. Try another 5-minute session in 2 days if you think you are ready. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, each week, you can increase the time by another 5 minutes and monitor how you feeling. Give yourself plenty of room for recovery, especially if you feel that your muscles hurt more than normal muscle discomfort.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned before, speed walking is sometimes used interchangeably with power walking and Olympic Race Walking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s important to use proper fast-walking techniques to reach the goals you are trying to achieve. It’s likely you’ll have much more efficiency to sustain for long periods if you walk with the right technique.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. POWER WALKING TECHNIQUE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Officially, power walking was founded in 1990 and states that walkers must keep one foot on the ground at all times like race walking. The main differences are that in power walking, you can’t have “an exaggerated swivel to the hip,” and your “leading foot must be bent.” (wikipedia.org<\/a>) \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ve already discussed most of the techniques to get started with power walking. In this video, you can see how the feet roll from heel to toe. Watch how his hips naturally change height as his extended legs move forward in a somewhat straight line. As you try walking quickly, you’ll feel how your body shifts when you walk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this video, the walker shows us how to use proper foot placement when power walking<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nSpeed Walking Explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nSpeed Walking Shoes<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nSpeed\/Power Walking Leg and Arm Movement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nHere Are Some Simple Steps to Begin Speed\/Power Walking<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nTwo Fast Walking Techniques<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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