7 Best Low-Impact Interval Walking Workouts for Beginners
If you want to lose body fat and improve your health, walking is one of the easiest—and most inexpensive—types of exercise. Best of all, you don't need any equipment! Simply throw on your shoes and get going with our seven best low-impact interval walking workouts for beginners.
Research shows that regular aerobic exercise like walking can help shed the flab around your belly and offer tremendous benefits for your heart, mental, and even brain health. In addition, this low-impact form of cardio is a great way to get exercise without bashing any areas of your body that are causing issues, like your knees, hips, or back.
Now, let's explore seven incredible, low-impact walking interval workouts you can do if you're just getting into physical training or you're looking to jazz up your old-fashioned "walks around the block."
Workout #1: Treadmill Speed Intervals
Treadmills are a great way to build your baseline conditioning and they're very low impact because the machine helps cushion each step. It also allows you to maintain a certain speed so you can track your level and improve it.
- Do a five-minute warm-up by walking at a comfortable pace.
- Walk 30 seconds as fast as you can without running.
- Walk for 1:30 minutes at a regular pace.
- Repeat this nine more times.
- Do a five-minute cool-down by walking at a relaxed pace.
Workout #2: Uphill Intervals
Walking up a gentle hill is a fantastic way to increase the intensity of your walk without putting lots of stress on your body. It also promotes good walking mechanics and strengthens more muscles than on a flat path. Find a stretch of road that goes uphill, or keep walking up and down a hill at your local park.
- Do a five-minute warm-up by walking at a comfortable pace.
- Walk for one minute uphill.
- Walk for one minute at a flat level or back down the hill.
- Repeat this nine more times.
- Do a five-minute cool-down by walking at a relaxed pace.
Workout #3: Treadmill Incline Intervals
With treadmills, you can quickly adjust the incline to create your own uphill interval session. This is ideal if you can't find a setting where you can walk uphill continuously for a long distance or if the weather is bad and you want the same benefits without getting soaked.
- Do a five-minute warm-up by walking at a comfortable pace.
- Walk for one minute at 10% to 15% incline.
- Walk for one minute at a flat incline.
- Repeat this nine more times.
- Do a five-minute cool-down by walking at a relaxed pace.
Workout #4: Speed Walking Intervals
This is a great protocol you can use to spice up a regular stroll around your neighborhood. Feel free to do it on flat terrain, or, once you get more conditioned, uphill or even while wearing a lightweight vest.
- Do a five-minute warm-up by walking at a comfortable pace.
- Walk for one minute as fast as you can without running.
- Walk for one minute at a regular pace.
- Repeat this nine more times.
- Do a five-minute cool-down by walking at a relaxed pace.
Workout #5: Aerobic Power Intervals
Interval walking workouts let you train your body across a wider range of your aerobic window (usually anything below 140 to 150 bpm). But if you really want to increase your entire aerobic window, you need to train at the higher ends of that range. One of the best ways to do so is to spend far more time pushing yourself during your walk than walking at a regular pace.
- Do a five-minute warm-up by walking at a comfortable pace.
- Walk for two minutes as fast as you can without running.
- Walk for one minute at a regular pace.
- Repeat this four more times.
- Do a five-minute cool-down by walking at a relaxed pace.
Workout #6: 3 x 3 Intervals
Research shows that performing this specific interval protocol can result in a far greater increase in lower-body strength as well as aerobic capacity than other methods. And it makes sense: The longer time you push yourself, the more you fatigue your muscles and stimulate them to adapt and improve.
- Do a five-minute warm-up by walking at a comfortable pace.
- Walk for three minutes as fast as you can without running.
- Walk for three minutes at a regular pace.
- Repeat this at least four times.
- Do a five-minute cool-down by walking at a relaxed pace.
Workout #7: Lunge Intervals
If you really want to challenge your body and crank up the amount of calories you burn, add some total-body exercises to stimulate more muscles, build more strength, and burn more fat. By doing it in an interval method, you also increase your cardiovascular demands, which creates far more benefits when you combine it with a typical walk.
- Do a five-minute warm-up by walking at a comfortable pace.
- For 10 minutes, do five walking lunges on each leg every minute while walking at a regular pace.
- Walk for two minutes as fast as you can without running.
- Walk for two minutes at a regular pace.
- Repeat two more times.
- Do a five-minute cool down by walking at a relaxed pace.
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