Exercising is a healthy part of any lifestyle, especially in such times when we have been limited to our homes. Exercise plays a vital role in maintaining your overall health. However, it is true that not everyone is fond of exercises and workout. This being said, walking becomes one of the easiest method to remain fit. Since going out or walking for long distances may not be preferable hence here are some add-ons which can help you burn more calories and remain fit. Most of these methods are very basic and can be beneficial for everyone including small kids to elder adults. Let us see what these ways are-
8 Ways to Make Routine Walks More Interesting
1. Use Hand Weights
Gyms are closed in most areas, and it is not possible to have cardio sessions with weights at home. But by using hand weights or simple dumbbells, you can do cardio and strength training at the same time. This can be a great way to make your walks more productive. According to a study of American College of Sports and Medicine, this type of weight training can be great to keep your heart healthy. It also reduces the risk of metabolic disorders by 17% according to this study of 2019. Walking itself is good for people having high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.
2. Make a Circuit
This means building a workstation in a lawn to do different workouts during walking. You can put some obstacles, keep one place for dumbbells and bicep curls at some gaps. Then while taking a round, whenever you pass that obstacle, you can work out with that thing. Like when you reach dumbbells, do a set of biceps, then move to skipping rope, do it 50 times and move ahead and so on. Harvard Health Research says not to put ankle weights during cardio or walking as it can force your quadriceps rather than hamstring. Making a circuit and make things more interesting and fun to do.
3. Find Different Courses
It’s not always necessary to do strength training to burn your calories. Rather a more interesting way is to do it is through having a designed course. Choose a path which has some rough patches, ups and downs, need some strength and challenges your body. That type of course can make your walking more interesting and challenging. You can also include push-ups or stretches in between. It can help you burn almost double the calories you can burn by simple walking.
4. Take a Friend with You
This may sound irrelevant but it can actually help. Taking some friend with you for walks can increase your capacity of walking. You will not bother about time and you can burn more calories together. Also there is always a certain competition when you are with a friend as in who can walk more before getting exhausted. This way you can improve both your health and your friend’s health at the same time. A study by BMC Geriatrics reveal that older adults who go for walking with their friends tend to have better health condition and enjoyed their lives more.
Also Read- 6 Signs You Are Doing More Cardio Than Required- Know The Limits
5. Try Meditation
According to a study by National Institute of Health 2017, meditation is one of the healthiest practises for body. It relaxes your mind and body at the same time and regulates metabolism, circadian rhythms and inflammation. Walking can also be turned into mediation of one type. Walking bare foot on grass has positive effect on health, feeling those instincts with full concentration can be called a type of meditation. While walking in park, one can meditate and feel the surrounding which can help him relax his mind. This practise can be done by everyone regardless of their age group.
6. Brisk Walking
Routine walking can be made more beneficial by increasing pace. Increasing the pace gradually while walking can lower the risk of many diseases. In 2019 a study from National Institute of Health exclaimed that brisk walking can reduce the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and respiratory diseases as well. Brisk walking is always healthy and beneficial, it helps to burn more calories and it makes walking more exciting.
7. Choose Stairs
To maintain a healthy lifestyle, one should opt for stairs instead of elevators and lifts. In daily routine, we are so habitual of taking lifts and elevators that amount of walking have reduced. Climbing stairs and adding stairs route in your daily routine can decrease the chances of having many diseases and poor health.
Also Read- Saddlebags Or Outer Thigh Fat: Causes And 8 Effective Exercise For Fat Loss
8. Do Fartlek Walks
This is a good way to improve your health. Just while walking you can increase your speed for some time and then decrease it. This improves cardio metabolic health and lowers the risk of heart rate. Increase and decrease in speed should go on while you are walking. This also aids in burning more calories than normal walking and increases muscle oxidative capacity. Fartlek walk is done with increased speed for 3 minutes and then slow down for 2 minutes and this gets repeated.
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