5 Simple Ways to Make Walking a More Sweaty Cardio Exercises
One of the best ways to live a healthy life is by exercising regularly. There are a number of exercises to do to jog your muscles but what if you are not interested in intense cardio exercise, or you just don’t feel like hitting the gym. What if you want something low-key, like… taking a walk?
Walking is an essential part of our everyday lives. It’s how we move around and get things done. The benefits of walking include:
Increasing blood circulation
Clearing the mind
Relieving joint pain
Strengthening the muscles
Boosting energy
Lighting up your mood
Burning calories
Walking, on it’s own, is not an intense cardio exercise but, with a few tips and tricks, you will be able to sweat more and burn more calories the next time you go for a walk.
Sweating does not really mean you’ve had a heavy exercise as there are other reasons you might sweat. But it’s important to note that when exercising, your body starts to heat up and to regulate your temperature, you sweat. So, sweating during physical exertion might mean your workout has been worthwhile (unless it’s a hot sunny day).
To make walking more sweaty and challenging, you can try out these 5 tips and take your walk up a notch:
Carry a backpack
Adding weight is a good way to make walking more sweaty and carrying a backpack with you can help you do just that.
You can carry a bunch of books in your backpack (as long as they are heavy books) or if you don’t mind the dirt, carry some big rocks instead. The bigger the weight, the heavier the walk, and the more sweat your body releases.
Speed walk
If you really want to take a sweaty walk, try speed walking. It’s pretty effective and can really work you up. If you don’t like the idea of going at it alone, a good way to go about it is taking your dog out for a walk and if your dog is fast-paced (most dogs are… except mine), try to keep up.
Most people enjoy listening to music during physical exertion. Music with high BPM can help you walk faster.
Try Long Distance
It’s a no-brainer! You are more likely to break a sweat when walking long distance than when you’re not. Short walks are fine if you’re only looking to get outside and take in the fine air and stretch your legs. Long walks on the other hand, will get you worked out and sweaty.
You can decide to carry a heavy backpack with you when taking long walks or you might decide not to. Depends how much challenging you want your walk to be.
Go up a hill
Going up a hill is a great way to take your walk up a notch and work yourself out.
Sadly, hills aren’t everywhere and you may not be able to find one in your neighborhood. You can search for places with hills in your city and go there to take your walk. This is not very practical but if you’re up for an adventure, why not?
To make things really testing and challenging, you can carry your backpack along when walking up the hill. The double effort will step things up.
Get a partner
It’s a great idea to take walks with a partner. Your partner might be your spouse, friend, or even a total stranger, as long as you’re walk buddies.
Having a partner creates a healthy competition and you can set challenges or some sort of walk routine for yourselves. Also, having a hearty conversation can really help pass time especially if it’s a long-distance walk, so that you are not quickly bored or tired.
Sometimes, having a partner to walk with might encourage you to take walks more often and you can walk with as much partners as you want.
You can use some of these tips sequentially when taking your walks. You might decide to speed walk while carrying your heavy backpack or walk long distance and then go up a hill. If your legs hurt, stop walking and rest your legs. If they still hurt, see a doctor.
Author Bio:
Michael Bankole is a health/lifestyle writer. He seeks to help all colors of people live better lives. When he’s not researching, reading, or writing, you’ll catch him listening to music and humming along. You can also catch him on Twitter.