Heading Out for Walk...Put a Spring in Your Step

Written by Libby Norris

Walking is the number one recreational activity in Canada with 71% of Canadians participating.¹ Although most would agree that walking is a great cardiovascular exercise and beneficial to your general health, walking is not usually considered a total body workout.

Think again! Creating a circuit out of your normal walk is a simple way to burn more calories and make the most of your workout time.

In a circuit workout you go from one exercise to another with little to no rest as opposed to doing continuous cardio or multiple sets of weight training exercises. Circuits are incredibly versatile as they can be all cardio, all conditioning or a combination of the two.

You set your metabolism in high gear for a number of reasons. When you mix up your exercises, you change the demands on the body and help to recruit more muscle fibres, resulting in more calories burned. In addition, moving quickly from one exercise to the next, you also increase your work to rest ratio - which is a more technical way of saying you increase intensity.

The average circuit in a fitness class may include 8-10 exercises but you can start with one or two and gradually add more as you feel comfortable and confident.

So how do you make this happen on an average walk? By alternating 3-10 minutes of walking with as little as 30 seconds of some upper and lower body exercises, you end up creating a total body workout. Have fun and play with those numbers to add variety with intensity and focus. To target cardio, reach for the higher end of 10 minutes. To focus more on your muscles, keep your cardio to the lower end and increase your time and repetitions of the exercises.

It's surprising how your neighbourhood or the local park can provide you with all the equipment you need. The following outlines just a few of the exercises you can use to create and customize a fun and challenging workout.

Lower Body Exercises
Curb Walk	Along a curbed area, walk with one foot up on the curb and one foot down. Focus on lifting the body up as you step on the curb. Make sure you repeat and work the other side. Make sure you stay safe. Find a quiet street, parking lot or perhaps a park area.
Lunges	Slow down your walk and exaggerate your step. Increase the length of your step forward, planting you heel first and then dropping your back knee toward the ground. Come up and then repeat alternating steps.
Stair climbs	Find a set of stairs. With as little as two steps you can do a circuit to equal any stair climber at a gym. Because you have to lift your body up against gravity, you'll work your quads (thighs) and your glutes (buttocks) more than level walking.
Curb squats or Lunges	Place one foot up on a curb - at the side for a squat or in front for a lunge. Lower your body down and up. For squats, lower as though you were sitting in a chair. For lunges, lower the back knee with the torso upright and tall.

Upper Body Exercises
Bench push ups	Placing your hands on a bench or railing with hands at chest level, lower your body and press back up. The lower the surface, the more challenging the push up.
Triceps dips	Sitting on a bench or ledge, place your hands by your hips and shift your body forward just off the surface. Bending at the elbows, lower your body down and up.
Oblique	Place your hands on a bench or railing (like the push up), place your feet close together. With a long body from toe to head, roll the hip under and up one at a time. I call this the "rotisserie chicken" movement because you want to keep your body centred and roll around the centre. You end up working both your upper body and your core.

You don't need too many as you can repeat these exercises throughout your circuit walk. Sure you may feel silly at first, but you'll have the last laugh when you add a spring in your step, boost your metabolism and your calories burned.

1. Physical Activity Among Canadians - the current situation; Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, 2005