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Forget the gym: Improve your cardio with this 15-minute, low-impact walking workout.

Pabio November 27, 2024

If you struggle to fit movement into your day, walking training could help you do more than just increase your step count.

“Walking exercises have many incredible benefits,” says AloMoves coach Bianca Sage. “They can improve your cardio and boost your lymphatic health (an important part of your immune system).”

“Walking is also low impact, making it the ideal workout to complement other forms of movement, while helping to improve muscle strength,” says Wise. Walking can also help manage weight and improve your mental well-being.

To help you reach your daily step goal, Wise has created a simple, hassle-free walking workout, exclusively for Fit and well. This routine can be done anywhere and although it only takes 15 minutes, it will increase your heart rate and strengthen the muscles used when walking, helping you get stronger for your next walk.

Bianca Sage

Fitness expert Bianca Wise is an accredited fitness instructor with a Certificate IV in Pilates. Wise’s favorite thing about a gait workout is that it can be easily incorporated into your daily routine and done almost anywhere, whether on a treadmill at home, at outdoors or in a gym.

How to do the 15-minute walking workout

This walking workout is divided into three five-minute intervals, each with a different intensity level, from light to moderate.

To guide your efforts, Wise uses heart rate zones (HR zones), which measure the percentage of your maximum heart rate (HRmax) that you are working on.

To find your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. Once you have calculated this, you can calculate your different heart rate zones, using the percentages detailed below.

If that doesn’t work for you, instead try navigating the workout using your rate of perceived exertion, which is a rough measure of how hard you’re working. It is usually calculated from 1 to 10, with 10 being your maximum effort.

What do the five HR zones mean?

Zone 1 = very light intensity, 50%-60% of your HRmax
Zone 2 = light intensity, 60-70% of your HRmax
Zone 3 = moderate intensity, 70 to 80% of your HRmax
Zone 4 = high intensity, 80-90% of your HRmax
Zone 5 = maximum intensity, 90-100% of your HRmax

You can measure your heart rate using a simple fitness tracker. If you don’t have one, we’ve rounded up the best Fitbit Black Friday deals for you – or take a look at the cheap offer below.

How to do the three walking intervals

Warm-up, 5 minutes: Start with a low-intensity walk to prepare your body for movement. Aim for zone 2, maintaining a light effort at around 60-70% of your HRmax.
Brisk walk, 5 minutes: Increase your pace to reach zone 3. This should be a moderate to vigorous effort, increasing your heart rate to 70-80% of your HRmax and challenging your cardiovascular system.
Cooling, 5 minutes: Switch to a lighter intensity for your last five minutes, returning to zone 2. You should be able to hold a conversation comfortably.

If you want to make this 15-minute walking workout more challenging, Wise suggests adding a hill or staircase to climb. “The important thing to remember is that breathing in and out through your nose and maintaining a controlled heart rate will help improve your fitness,” the expert adds.

Want more low-impact routines like this? Look at this 10 minute walking workout or learn what happened when I Tried This 5,000 Step Walking Workout With Over 1 Million Views.

Mondor Festival

Mondor Festival

Forget the gym: Improve your cardio with this 15-minute, low-impact walking workout.

Pabio

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Forget the gym: Improve your cardio with this 15-minute, low-impact walking workout.

Pabio

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