Walking

Execution

1. Start with 3-5 minutes of slow walking to warm the joints up before you pick up the pace.
2. Move to a brisk pace: you can still talk in sentences but you could not sing.
3. Walk tall with your eyes down the path and your arms swinging front to back instead of across your body.
4. Keep the steps short and quick, with a cadence around 110-120 steps a minute at a brisk pace.
5. Hold that pace for the planned time or distance, and slow down on hills rather than forcing them.
6. If you are new to this, aim for 20-30 minutes of continuous brisk walking in the main block, not counting the 3-5 minute warm-up and the 3 minutes of slow walking at the end; keeping 3-5 sessions a week builds toward the 150-minute moderate-activity target.
7. Finish with 3 minutes of slow walking, then stretch your calves and hamstrings.
8. In hot, humid weather walk early morning or late afternoon. Chest pain, dizziness or unusual breathlessness means stopping and seeing a doctor.

Quick cues

• Walk tall, eyes down the path.
• Short, quick steps.
• Arms swing front to back.
• Talk in sentences, cannot sing.
• Walk like you are late.

Common faults

• Fault: Strolling so slowly that the heart rate barely moves

  Fix: Use the talk-but-not-sing test, and use a step counter to compare sessions.

• Fault: Overstriding and slamming the heel onto the pavement

  Fix: Shorten the stride, lift the cadence and think about landing under your hips.

• Fault: Walking hunched over a phone

  Fix: Put the phone away, choose your music before you set off and look ahead.

• Fault: Walking in worn-out shoes or flip-flops

  Fix: Switch to running shoes that fit and replace them when the sole is worn flat or after about 700 km.