A Beginner’s Guide to Get Started With Walking Workouts
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How to start a walking program? If you’re brand new to walking workouts, the first step is determining your baseline.
If you don’t want to track steps, focus on duration, suggests Paluch. She recommends starting by adding 10-minute walks on most days of the week, and upping the duration of those walks by 5 to 10 minutes per walk per week. The goal would be 150 to 300 minutes per week of walking, she says.
Plan for at least one day per week of rest or an active rest day for recovery, suggests Boyle.
Listen to your body here. If you sense that you need a full day of rest from physical activity, Boyle suggests spending the time you would otherwise spend walking to do something for you: meditate, read a book, or cook. Active recovery is doing a lighter version of the activity or a complementary activity, she says. That might be going out for a slow walk where the goal is not to get your heart rate up or participating in gentle yoga or some light swimming.
So over the course of four weeks, your walking plan for beginners would look like this:
Week 1
Day 1 Walk 10 minutes
Day 2 Walk 10 minutes
Day 3 Walk 10 minutes
Day 4 Walk 10 minutes
Day 5 Walk 10 minutes
Day 6 Rest or cross-train
Day 7 Walk 10 minutes
*The rest or cross-training day can be moved to any day that works best with your schedule
Week 2
Day 1 Walk 15 minutes
Day 2 Walk 15 minutes
Day 3 Walk 15 minutes
Day 4 Walk 15 minutes
Day 5 Walk 15 minutes
Day 6 Rest or cross-train
Day 7 Walk 15 minutes
Week 3
Day 1 Walk 20 minutes
Day 2 Walk 20 minutes
Day 3 Walk 20 minutes
Day 4 Walk 20 minutes
Day 5 Walk 20 minutes
Day 6 Rest or cross-train
Day 7 Walk 20 minutes
Week 4
Day 1 Walk 25 minutes
Day 2 Walk 25 minutes
Day 3 Walk 25 minutes
Day 4 Walk 25 minutes
Day 5 Walk 25 minutes
Day 6 Rest or cross-train
Day 7 Walk 25 minutes
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