Walking, Running or Walk-Run? What’s your choice?
Walking is not a second-class fitness activity. It can get you into
top-notch shape, help you lose weight and tone your muscles.
Some walkers want to run at least some of the time. If you feel a need for speed but your joints can't handle incessant pounding, consider doing a 'walk-run'.
Walk-running is a fun and effective variation on a straight walking programme. You don’t have to run to get a great workout, especially if running doesn't suit your body or personality. Walk-running is simply one way -- but not the only way -- to
increase exercise intensity. A walk-run incorporates
intervals of running throughout your walking workout so you can increase exercise intensity and burn more calories.
If you've never run a step in your life or running for more than a few minutes at a time makes your knees ache (not to mention the rest of your body), try this:
After your 5-to-10-minute warm-up at an easy walking pace, alternate 30 seconds of running with 2 minutes of medium-to-fast paced walking.
Repeat this cycle 5-10 times for a total of 12-25 minutes of walk-running.
Follow this with a 5-to-10-minute cool-down at an easy pace.
You can gradually increase your running intervals to 2 minutes for a total of 20-40 minutes of walk-running
If you can run for at least five continuous minutes without feeling out of breath or achy, try this:
After your walking warm-up, alternate 5 minutes of running with 5 minutes of medium-to-fast-paced walking for a total of 3-6 walk-run cycles (30-60 minutes).
Finish up with an easy-paced cool-down.
If you want most of your workout to be spent running but still want to give your joints a break:
Start out with an easy walking warm-up for 5-10 minutes.
Run for 3-5 minutes and walk for 1 minute.
Repeat 10-15 times so that you're walk-running for 40-60 minutes.
Finish up with an easy cool-down. If your knees feel sore after this type of workout, you can always ease up on your running intervals and increase your walking time.
Be willing to experiment until you strike exactly the right balance between walking and running