If you walk every day, you might wonder whether you really need to do anything else. You’re getting outside, moving your body and making time to be active, which can be difficult enough when you’ve got work, family and everything else to think about.
I’m a big fan of walking and I’d always encourage you to keep doing it. But if someone tells me walking is their only exercise, I’ll usually ask whether they do any strength training too. Walking has plenty of benefits but it doesn’t give us everything we need, particularly when it comes to keeping our whole body strong as we get older.
Does your walk get you out of breath?
There’s quite a difference between a gentle walk where you stop every few minutes and a brisk walk that gets you breathing a bit harder. Both are worth doing but they ask different things of your body.
If you can talk while you’re walking but would struggle to sing, that’s a useful indication that you’re working at a moderate intensity. Brisk walking counts towards the recommended 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, so you certainly don’t have to start running if you don’t want to.
Have a think about the walks you normally do. If you’re always walking at a very comfortable pace, you could try walking a little faster for parts of your route or including a hill. You don’t need to make every walk harder though. I know for plenty of people it’s their time to unwind or catch up with someone, which is valuable in itself.
Why I’d add strength training
When we’re walking, our legs are doing most of the work. We’re not asking much of our chest, shoulders or arms and we’re not challenging all our muscles in the way we would during a strength workout.
This matters because we use our strength all day without necessarily thinking about it. Carrying shopping, lifting children, moving furniture and getting up from the floor all require us to do more than put one foot in front of the other. I want you to be able to keep doing those things as you get older without feeling that they’re becoming a struggle.
The NHS recommends strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups on at least two days a week. If you already walk regularly, this is what I’d encourage you to make time for alongside it.
You can do that at home using weights, resistance bands or your own body weight. You do need to give your muscles something to work against though. Going through the motions with a weight you could comfortably lift all day won’t offer the same challenge as a set where those last few repetitions take some effort.
As you get stronger, you’ll need to adjust what you’re doing. That might mean increasing your weights, choosing a harder version of an exercise or adding repetitions while keeping good technique.
Where do core work and mobility fit in?
You may be thinking that by the time you’ve walked, done your strength training and added some core and mobility work, there won’t be much time left for anything else!
The good news is that these don’t all need to be separate workouts. When I plan a full-body class, I can include exercises that work your core and get you moving in different directions within that session.
Walking doesn’t give you much opportunity to practise reaching overhead, moving sideways or getting down onto the floor. Including a variety of movements in your workouts gives you a chance to work on those things too, without having to find another hour in your week.
Do you need a daily step target?
A step target can be helpful if it encourages you to move more, especially if you spend a lot of your day sitting down. I’d look at your current average first though, rather than choosing a number because someone else is aiming for it.
If you’re doing very little walking at the moment, adding a short walk at lunchtime might be a manageable first change. Once you’re doing that regularly, you can decide whether to increase it.
If you already spend plenty of time walking, I’d be more interested in whether you’re doing any strength work than whether you can squeeze in another few thousand steps. Your step count only tells us part of what you’ve done that day.
What should you aim for each week?
The guidance for adults is at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week, or a combination of the two, alongside strengthening activities on at least two days. Brisk walking can make up some or all of that moderate activity.
If you’re already walking most days, have a look at your diary and see where you could put two strength workouts. I’d choose the days in advance because it’s very easy to get to Friday and realise you’ve been meaning to do one all week.
They don’t have to be long sessions. A focused 20-minute workout at home can be much easier to fit in than travelling to the gym, particularly if you’ve got children at home or you’re trying to exercise around work.
If one session is what you can manage to begin with, start there and build up. You’ll learn far more about what works for you by trying it for a few weeks than by waiting for a quieter month.
If you’re not sure what to do, come and join us
A lot of women know they’d benefit from strength training but don’t feel confident choosing exercises or knowing which weights to use. It’s understandable that walking feels easier to get on with when there’s less to think about.
In the Squad, I guide you through our 20-minute classes and give you options so you can work at your level. You can join us live or use the on-demand classes whenever they fit into your day, with strength, cardio, Pilates and mobility to choose from.
You’ll also get to know a lovely group of women who are fitting exercise around busy lives too. Having people to chat to and share your progress with can make it something you look forward to rather than another thing you feel you ought to do.
