How to maximize the benefits of walking?

If you like to walk every day, you can make the most of it by changing some habits. Steep paths, alternating brisk walking and slow walking, 10-minute sessions several times a day ... find the technique that suits you best.

Walking regularly helps maintain a balanced body weight, lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol, reduce glucose levels, improve mood, memory and cognitive function, reduce stress, and increase lifetime. Many studies have proven that this is a form of beneficial exercise from any age.

Even if any amount of walking is good for the body, a certain number of kilometers and a sustained intensity allow to obtain a maximum of benefits of this activity. The recommended minimum is a 30-minute walk of moderate intensity, five days a week. Here are some tips to get the most out of your daily sessions.

Aim for 15,000 steps a day

Walk as much as possible. According to a study cited by Consumer Reports, the benefits in terms of height, cholesterol, blood pressure and glycemic control are felt from 15,000 steps per day. The usual goal for people who walk is 10,000 steps daily. But this figure is not the result of scientific research. This first goal is considered a realistic minimum, but for a complete reduction of health risks, it is better to aim higher.

Accelerate the pace

Another way to better enjoy walking is to move faster. The findings of a 2007 study on this subject show that a faster pace gives the same results as a higher number of steps. Try walking at a pace of 100 steps per minute, or simply take the fastest pace you can.

fractionate

Instead of doing a full 30 minute walk at the same moderate pace, try high intensity interval training. Alternate about 30 seconds to a minute of fast walking, with one to two minutes of recovery at a slower pace.

To climb

You do not have time to walk as much as you want? Choose a path with unevenness. When you increase the intensity of your walk up a steep hill, you get an equivalent result, in half the time.