Racewalking also gives your upper body a healthy workout. In order to walk at high speeds, you have to pump your arms vigorously. This movement helps tone and strengthen the muscles in your arms, neck, and chest as it burns calories.
Health professionals agree that racewalking is great low-impact and cardiovascular exercise. “If you have the joints to be able to jog, that’s fine. But walking for an hour is better than jogging for 30 minutes,” says John Lumpkin, director of Physical Therapy at Spine and Sport Physical Therapy of Woodstock.
Race walking and power walking, which is also known as speed walking, are excellent exercises because they burn far more calories than what “The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss and Fitness” author Mark Fenton calls “regular walking” and they cause far fewer injuries than running.
Race walking utilises several muscle groups of the body, which makes it a great exercise to achieve weight loss goals and overall fitness. Walking promotes muscle toning, increases endurance and helps you burn more calories along with enhancing cardiovascular strength.
Race walking and power walking, which is also known as speed walking, are excellent exercises because they burn far more calories than what “The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss and Fitness” author Mark Fenton calls “regular walking” and they cause far fewer injuries than running.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per stride, whereas race walkers, who do not leave the ground, generate only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
“Race Walking is a progression of steps so taken that the walker makes contact with the ground, so that no visible (to the human eye) loss of contact occurs. The advancing leg shall be straightened (i.e. not bent at the knee) from the moment of first contact with the ground until the vertical upright position.”
Weight Loss Comparisons. Race walking burns more calories than running at the same speed because the sport’s rules require them to expend more effort, according to “An Invitation to Health” author Dianne Hales. Race walkers have shorter strides than runners and, thus, must stretch their hips forward and backward.
How fast can you walk?
The “walking speed limit for regular walking” is approximately 4.5 mph, wrote Fenton. Regular walking is a natural activity. Power walkers, though, can reach 5.5 mph by consciously changing their posture, taking faster steps, and swinging their arms. If you want to power walk, you should walk so upright that your head is level and only your eyes move when you look at your feet. You should “walk as tall as you can,” wrote Fenton. Taking 135 to 150 steps per minute will improve your speed more than longer strides, which can strain your buttocks, hamstrings and lower back. Swinging your arms while they are bent 90 degrees and your elbows are in a fixed position will also improve your speed.
Race walking burns more calories than running at the same speed because the sport’s rules require them to expend more effort, according to “An Invitation to Health” author Dianne Hales. Race walkers have shorter strides than runners and, thus, must stretch their hips forward and backward. Race walking 8 mph can burn more than 1,000 calories per hour in 150-pound people. The same people burn about 800 calories per hour race walking 6 mph, about 600 calories per hour power walking 5 mph, and about 400 calories per hour walking 4 mph, wrote Fenton. You lose 1 pound when you burn 3,500 calories. Race walkers and power walkers also are far less likely to get hurt than runners because they hit the ground with about 1-1/2 times their weight to runners’ three to four times their weight.
Consequently, race walkers need to do more strength exercises. The best strength exercises for race walkers and power walkers include chest presses and bicep curls for your upper body, squats for your lower body, and abdominal crunches for both.
Taking 135 to 150 steps per minute will improve your speed more than longer strides, which can strain your buttocks, hamstrings and lower back. Swinging your arms while they are bent 90 degrees and your elbows are in a fixed position will also improve your speed.
Race walking and power walking, which is also known as speed walking, are excellent exercises because they burn far more calories than what “The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss and Fitness” author Mark Fenton calls “regular walking” and they cause far fewer injuries than running. Race walking and power walking each require different techniques than regular walking. Race walking’s techniques are formal rules because race walking is a competitive sport, while power walking is not.
Why is race walking good for you?
Race walking utilises several muscle groups of the body, which makes it a great exercise to achieve weight loss goals and overall fitness. Walking promotes muscle toning, increases endurance and helps you burn more calories along with enhancing cardiovascular strength.
In race walking, one foot is always in contact with the ground. This means the advancing foot of the walker makes contact with the ground, just before the rear foot leaves the ground. The position of the arms is of utmost importance.
One must start with a warm-up of 5-10 minutes like we do with any other workout. Race walking targets multiple muscles at one time. You must end the exercise with five minutes of cool down and some gentle stretching. Because the exercise is new for you, mistakes are bound to happen.
You should swing your arms loosely, pivoting from the shoulders. Keep your hands close to the body and not cross the vertical or horizontal midline of your torso. You can boost your intensity to reap more benefits as increased intensity increases your heart rate and makes your body sweat more.
Walking is one of the simplest and best exercises to keep fit and healthy.
Why is walking good for you?
Additionally, long walks can help clear your thoughts and calm you down. Here are 13 benefits of walking and running you didn’t know! 1. Helps you live longer. A study published in Archives of Internal Medicine concluded that runners tend to live longer than those who don’t perform this form of exercise regularly.
Research have shown that running outdoors and soaking up the sun can boost a person’s self-esteem. 5. Running helps you cope with stress. Stress relief is one of the most common psychological benefits of running.
In fact, experts suggest that brisk walking for 30 minutes at a moderate speed every day can burn 150 – 200 calories.
Something as simple as a brisk for 20 minute walk in the park, about four times a week will increase your pulse by as much as 25 percent. If walking isn’t your forte, you can consider other sports, such as bike riding, swimming, running, dancing, jogging up and down a flight of stairs, to increase your blood flow.
Surprisingly, apart from overall health and mental benefits – walking and running are good for our vision as well. A research conducted in 2013 showed that those who walked or ran an average of 5 miles per day had 41% lower risk of developing cataract and age-related vision loss or blindness.
Health experts further claim that even walking on the treadmill helps and can increase calorie burnout more than the stationary bike, stair-climber, and rower. Photo Credit: 123RF. Running can help you to shed a few pounds, if you are looking to lose weight.
Stress may come from a variety of causes, such as work, family, or life-changing events. Running do increase the amount of norepinephrine, a chemical that can moderate the brain’s stress response.
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