10 Ways to Elevate Your Daily Walk

To get your body to perform above its normal baseline, it needs to be challenged. Adding extra weight in the form of ankle, wrist or waist weights and belts can help increase resistance, giving your core more to work against. Holding dumbbells is another good option if you prefer something that’s not attached. Whichever you opt for, ensure you start slowly and build up the weight gradually to avoid injury.

You might think of walking as an exercise that predominantly targets your legs and glutes but walking on different surfaces and inclines is a great way to activate your abs too. Walking uphill engages lots of different core muscles which improves overall strength and it’s also a good way to begin to loosen tight hip flexors and engage your pelvic floor muscles. If walking uphill isn’t an option, look for more challenging surfaces like rocks, sand or woody trails instead. These will force your core to work harder by stabilising your hips and pelvis. Just be sure that the ground beneath you is safe and sturdy enough before you start.

“Go out for a walk without your phone and headphones. Listen to the sounds around you, take in the people around you and let your brain rest. We overstimulate our nervous system and a walk being fully open to your senses will allow you to calm your brain.” – Nahid de Belgeonne founder of The Human Method and author of Soothe: The Book Your Nervous System Has Been Longing For

If you want to burn more calories and fat, turn your usual walk into something more intense by taking your average speed up from around 2-3mph to closer to 4-5mph. If you’re not a natural runner or are new to it, then start slowly by incorporating some light jogging intervals into your daily walk for the first few sessions. 

Get more out of your daily walk by actively engaging different muscles as you go. Swinging your arms back and forth in a controlled manner engages your core, as your abs work to keep your pelvis and hips from rotating as you move. It also helps tighten your glutes and draws in your waist, which will help improve posture.

There’s no disputing the relaxing mind and body benefits of a quiet country walk but, according to one study, walking in urban environments helps you get fitter, quicker. Walking in built-up areas is thought to provide a tougher workout by increasing the pace at which you walk, which will get you fitter in the long run. 

“Focus your eyes on different distances on your walk, so focus on a building or a tree far away and then focus on something more detailed in front of you, a leaf or texture on a bench. By changing the focus of the lens of your eyes, you will recalibrate your nervous system countering the amount of time that your eyes spend fixed on a laptop” – Nahid

Walking at around 100 steps a minute has been shown to increase your health and can even slow down biological ageing over time. According to one study, a lifetime of brisk walking could lead to the equivalent of 16 years younger biological age by midlife, thanks to a link between brisk walking and stabilising telomere length, the caps at the end of each cell chromosome that protect them from damage. 

Walking downhill elongates and stretches the muscles and works your joints, helping to keep them healthy. It can also improve balance and coordination and knee and ankle strength.

“Try and breathe six seconds in and six seconds out through your nostrils as you walk intentionally through your space. This deliberate slowing down of your breath will lower stress and anxiety as well as your levels of cytokines which are linked to inflammation and stress” – Nahid

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