BIP.

Exercise library · Cardio

Brisk walk

Cardio with other equipment.

How to do it

  1. Starting position

    Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, eyes forward and arms relaxed by your sides.

  2. The movement

    Walk forward at a brisk, steady pace, land on your heel first and let your arms swing naturally.

Most common mistake

Don't take overly long steps, keep them quick and comfortable with each foot landing close to your body.

Muscle group
Cardio
Equipment
Other
Where
Home or gym
Logged as
Time and distance

What it trains

A brisk walk is the most accessible form of cardio: your heart and lungs work at a moderate level that you can keep up for a long time. Your calves, thighs and glutes drive you forward. Brisk means breathing noticeably faster than normal while still being able to talk, though not sing. Walking uphill, on a slope or an inclined treadmill, gives your glutes and calves more to do and raises your heart rate without you having to run. That makes walking a good first step for beginners, and a sensible rest-day session for anyone who trains hard.

Common mistakes

  • The pace is too gentle. A window-shopping stroll rarely raises your heart rate enough to count as cardio. Walk fast enough to feel warm and slightly out of breath within a few minutes, and hold that pace all the way.
  • Your eyes are glued to your phone. With your head bent down, both your speed and your posture drop. Put the phone away and listen to music or a podcast instead.
  • Every walk is the same. The same route at the same pace soon becomes too easy. Pick a hillier route, add a few minutes at a faster pace or walk a little further than last time.

Variations and alternatives

  • A treadmill on an incline gives you a tough uphill walk indoors when the weather or the dark keeps you in.
  • Running is the next step when walking no longer feels like an effort, ideally as short bursts of jogging between walking stretches at first.
  • The stair climber gives your legs far more to do in an equally calm movement.

How to plan your sessions

Between 30 and 60 minutes on most days of the week works well for many people, and short walks count too. To get more out of less time, walk in intervals: 2 to 3 minutes as fast as you can walk and 2 minutes easier, 4 to 6 times, ideally on a hill. See how often should you train for fitting it around other training.

Time a set route, or track your pace in minutes per kilometre. If the same route takes less time at the same effort, your fitness has improved, and it is time to walk longer, steeper or faster. That is progressive overload in its simplest form.

Also called

  • incline walk

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

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