
But consciously picking up the step rate will help you boost the speed and intensity of the workout."

It also brings hips into a better position for a powerful stride," he says. "This opens your chest for easier breathing and removes tension from the shoulders and neck. Stand tall, shoulders back, no sway in your lower back, head up and eyes on the horizon. Mark Fenton, an adjunct associate professor at Tufts University and co-author of Pedometer Walking, offers these suggestions for increasing your walking speed: "I carry my smartphone, and I use the MapMyWalk app to track the time and measure the distance." You can time yourself on your loop around the neighborhood, mall or walking trail and push yourself to walk it a bit faster over time, he says. You should feel like if you moved any faster, you'd be breathless." "Brisk means that you get warm while walking, and you can sense that your heart rate is slightly elevated."Īdds Cotton: "You should be able to converse but not sing. For some people, a 3 mph pace would be a brisk walk, but for others, that would be a moderate pace, says Nelson, who co-chaired the committee that created the government's physical-activity guidelines.

Plus, the guidelines recommend that adults do muscle-strengthening activities, such as push-ups, sit-ups or lifting weights. The physical-activity guidelines recommend getting at least 2½ hours a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, or one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, such as jogging. Walking is the most popular form of physical activity among adults in the USA and the most frequently reported activity among adults who meet the federal physical-activity guidelines, the government says. You can walk wherever you are, even if it's just walking in place in your house or taking the stairs more." It's probably the most convenient physical activity that you can work into your life, says exercise physiologist Richard Cotton, a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis.
