Whether you want to walk daily, longer, or faster, we’re got the plan to begin your get-moving transformation.
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The heart is the center of life. It pumps blood providing oxygen and nutrients to all of your organs in the body, it reflects your health—the good and the bad. This lifeforce can’t survive on its own though. It needs to be fed, calmed, and strengthened. Exercise is medicine for the heart.
One of the simplest forms of exercise you can do is walking. This aerobic exercise makes the heart muscle stronger and benefitting the aspects that we measure heart health. For instance, exercise can lower blood pressure up to 24 hours after the activity.
And while the relationship between aerobic exercise and cholesterol isn’t as clear cut, it is still beneficial, says Linda S. Pescatello, Ph.D., a professor of kinesiology at University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. In fact, a review of clinical trials concluded that doing aerobic exercise, such as walking, at a moderate intensity for 15 to 20 miles per week per week was effective for increasing your good cholesterol HDL (high density lipoprotein cholesterol) and reducing triglycerides. And if you exercise at a higher intensity or for longer periods of time or distance, you might see more favorable effects. In addition, the review suggested that adding resistance exercise may have a greater impact on reducing your bad cholesterol LDL (low density lipoprotein) than aerobic exercise training alone.
Consider this with the American College of Sports Medicine’s recommendation that people with dyslipidemia—the medical term for high cholesterol—do moderate-to-vigorous exercise for 30 to 60 minutes per day with a little resistance training on the side, and you have a recipe to possibly getting your cholesterol ratios in line. And while that may seem daunting, depending on your fitness level, this is where walking can be a literal lifesaver. “Walking is great because almost everyone can do it,” Pescatello says. “And it doesn’t have to be a big outing, if you are just starting out you can walk around the house to start.”
Still not sure where to being? That’s where this Start-Where-You-Are Walking Plan comes in. Below you will find three programs: One for making walking a habit, one for increasing the amount of time or distance you’re walking, and one for walking faster. Pair any of these programs with either this push-up or plank program (or both) and you will be taking the steps to lower your cholesterol.
Walk Your Way to Heart Health
Meet your walking coach: Chris Twiggs. He is the chief training officer at Galloway Training in Atlanta, GA, and he created the following plans to help make walking a habit, increase your walking time, and, eventually, increase your walking pace.
One thing to note: You will see that pace and intensity recommendations are described as easy, moderate, and hard using the talk test, which Pescatello says is very effective at determining intensity. Here’s what each means:
An easy pace is one where you can easily carry on a conversation without being breathy. If you were to rate your effort on a scale of one to 10, it would rank a two to three.
A moderate pace is one where that conversation starts getting breathy and it ranks four to six on the effort scale.
A hard pace makes talking difficult and the effort ranks at seven or above.
And, as with any exercise plan, make sure to talk to your doctor about your plans and get their sign-off.
Plan 1: Make Walking a Habit
“The goal of this program is to make walking a habit,” says Twiggs. “By the end of the four weeks, you will be able to walk at least 30 minutes every day. This is good for your overall health, and you may be inspired to try one of the other programs to walk farther or faster when the four weeks are done.”
Following a specific schedule gives structure and purpose to your workout routine. In addition, look for opportunities to walk a bit extra each day. Rather than fighting for the closest parking spot at the store, for example, intentionally park further away and casually walk to the entrance, knowing you’re getting some “extra credit” steps. If you work from home, set a timer to remind yourself to get up and walk around the house every hour just to loosen up and keep your juices flowing.
Week 1: Every day walk for 15 minutes at an easy pace.
Week 2: Every day walk for 20 minutes at an easy pace.
Week 3: Every day walk for 25 minutes at an easy pace.
Week 4: Every day walk for 30 minutes at an easy pace.
Plan 2: Walk Longer and Farther
“The goal of this program is to increase the time and/or distance of the long walk,” says Twiggs. “This pattern can be extended to increase the weekend walk mile by mile or longer.”
Week 1
Day 1: 30 – 45 minutes easy pace (1.5 to 3 miles)
Day 3: 30 – 45 minutes easy pace (1.5 to 3 miles)
Day 5: 30 – 45 minutes easy pace (1.5 to 3 miles)
Saturday or Sunday: 3 miles (1 mile longer than longest recent walk)
Week 2
Day 1: 30 – 45 minutes easy pace (1.5 to 3 miles)
Day 3: 30 – 45 minutes easy pace (1.5 to 3 miles)
Day 5: 30 – 45 minutes easy pace (1.5 to 3 miles)
Saturday or Sunday: 4 miles (or 1 mile longer than last week)
Week 3
Day 1: 45-60 minutes easy pace (2.5 to 4 miles)
Day 3: 45-60 minutes easy pace (2.5 to 4 miles)
Day 5: 30 – 45 minutes easy pace (1.5 to 3 miles)
Saturday or Sunday: 5 miles (or 1 mile longer than last week)
Week 4
Day 1: 45-60 minutes easy pace (2.5 to 4 miles)
Day 3: 45-60 minutes easy pace (2.5 to 4 miles)
Day 5: 30 – 45 minutes easy pace (1.5 to 3 miles)
Saturday or Sunday: 6 miles (or 1 mile longer than last week)
Plan 3: Become a Faster Walker
“The goal of this program is to walk faster, either for race participation or for personal satisfaction. The key of this program is being intentional about your walking,” says Twiggs. “Let your mind wander too much and you will find yourself slowing down.”
Twiggs suggests walking in a natural motion. “There is no need to model your walk after Olympic race walkers unless you are trying to reach that level and have a coach who can help you with that form to avoid injury,” he says.
As you increase your walking pace, make sure to maintain good posture. Leaning forward or backward will create a multitude of problems from a stiff neck to a sore back. “Think of yourself as a puppet on a string,” Twiggs advises. “This will keep your chest open for breathing and keep you from feeling sore all over after the walk.” Another tip to keep in mind for faster walking is to avoid bouncing. “Any up and down motion is wasted energy. Keep your feet low to the ground and all of your energy focused on forward momentum.”
For this program, there are three types of walks, drill, tempo, and long:
Drill Walk (30 minutes): This walk will help you increase your walking cadence (foot turnover) and therefore, increase your overall walking pace.
Warm up with 10 minutes of walking at a easy pace. Then for the next 10 minutes you will perform this drill:
For one minute, count how many times your right foot hits the ground while walking at a moderate pace. Follow-up with one minute of walking at an easy pace.
Repeat this drill, five more times. Each time, pick up the pace slightly and try to beat the previous number by one or two.
Then, cool down with 10 minutes of walking at an easy pace.
Tempo Walk (30 to 45 minutes): The focus here is walking at a faster pace for a specific period of time. It can be mentally (and physically) exhausting to focus on a faster pace during the entirely of your walk, but setting aside a day each week to do so makes it manageable and results in faster overall pace even when you aren’t trying to be a speed star.
Warm up with 10 minutes of walking at an easy pace. After the warm up, walk at a moderately-hard pace for 10 to 25 minutes, maintaining good posture and steady breathing. Cool down at the end of the walk with 10 minutes of walking at an easy pace. As the month progresses, lengthen the amount of time that you are walking at the hard pace.
Long Walk (60 minutes or longer): The long walk is the cornerstone to any walking program, even one devoted to getting faster. The endurance you gain and maintain with the long walk translates to speed when you are walking shorter distances. If you tend to walk the same route, this is a good time to see if your weekday walks are translating into overall speed. Are you covering that distance in a shorter amount of time? If so, congratulations! You’re getting faster.
Week 1
Day 1: Drill Walk
Day 3: Tempo (30 minutes)
Day 5: 30 minute walk, easy pace
Saturday or Sunday: Long Walk
Week 2
Day 1: Drill Walk
Day 3: Tempo (35 minutes)
Day 5: 30 minute walk, easy pace
Saturday or Sunday: Long Walk
Week 3
Day 1: Drill Walk
Day 3: Tempo (40 minutes)
Day 5: 30 minute walk, easy pace
Saturday or Sunday: Long Walk
Week 4
Day 1: Drill Walk
Day 3: Tempo (45 minutes)
Day 5: 30 minute walk, easy pace
Saturday or Sunday: Long Walk
Steps to Safer Walks
Even though walking is an activity that seems easy enough, you still want to take steps to make sure you do so safely. Consider:
Checking with your physician before changing your exercise routine if you have pre-existing heart (or other) conditions.
Recruiting a walking buddy.
Notifying someone when you go out for a walk. Tell them your route and around how long you will be gone.
Wearing a medic-alert bracelet if you have serious medical issues.
