Walking as cross training - does it do anything?

johnfromSJ wrote:

I concur with the above posters that walking will do next to nothing for aerobic strength for running.

its funny, but not surprising, that this has become the consensus on this board. its probably wrong, or at least incomplete. and probably reflects a misunderstanding of "aerobic strength" and perhaps more broadly "running fitness."

very successful japanese marathoners have been known to do MONTHS of nothing but long walking (often with a weight vest or belt or backpack of some kind) in prep for goal races. some sharpening was involved in a peak phase (sometimes as long as a year) after that walking--but probably the prep gave them something more than mental strength.

ive had multiple longer periods where ive been able to do nothing but walk for an hour or two each day. as long as i get in a couple efforts each week faster than ~16min pace, i find i retain a lot of fitness, and actually may even be stronger at longer distances if ive really stuck to 12 hours a week of walking, as compared to the 6 or 7 of running i might otherwise do.... at the very least, ive got to think the suitability of walking varies by person.

Before I became a runner I hiked and climbed a lot over the summer. I even did some guiding back in the day. When I started XC practice in the Fall in high school I wasn't always in the best running shape but I was good at hills. Lots of uphill hikes and climbs carrying 65lb packs all day will do that. With your shoulder, carrying a pack probably won't be a good idea but if you can go on hilly hikes that will help.

“Walking does nothing for aerobic fitness” is another way of saying you don’t walk fast enough. You don’t have to use racewalking technique to walk sub 11:00 miles and that surely will get your HR into a training zone. Of course it takes practice and effort- you probably won’t be able to do it in day one. Give it a few weeks and see what you can do.

Hiking in the moutains is a great way to develop (when starting from 0) or maintain fitness.

Uphill will make the heart work quite a lot. And both uphill and downhill walk will do great muscular work.

2weeks ago I did two days of hiking in the moutains going from 2600ft to 8500 altitude and going back. With like 20lb on the back.

16miles total

I had to take one week off after that, I could hardly walk during several days lol.

Since then I much stronger at the end of my long runs.

In the late 70's or early 80's, Toshiko Seko walked over a hundred miles a week due to a stress fracture stopping his running.

I think he went on to win Boston within that year.

IF you are walking down the streets of a major liberal city, then yes it helps! Scientists say so.

fun 2 watch talent and hard work wrote:

“Walking does nothing for aerobic fitness” is another way of saying you don’t walk fast enough. You don’t have to use racewalking technique to walk sub 11:00 miles and that surely will get your HR into a training zone. Of course it takes practice and effort- you probably won’t be able to do it in day one. Give it a few weeks and see what you can do.

"Sub 11:00 miles"!?! Most of us on here have been walking since the age of 1, so I'd say we've had some practice, but sub 11, and not using race walking technique?

really, it is true.

in my mid 50's, training for a marathon (that I ran in 3:15-3:20 range- trying to be anonymous here)- I alternated walking and running days and the walking was in the low 10's, 5-6 miles per day (on days that I walked).

Walking is like any other sport or event- it seems impossible when you first start, but if you try to walk fast, you'll get a lot faster pretty quickly. Most people just don't want to do this, so they don't try, for a variety of reasons. The walking we have been doing all our lives is not at all specific to walking with a cadence of 170-ish. The main point: yes, a runner can learn to walk really fast and get a great aerobic stimulus.

On the other hand, anybody who can walk that fast most likely is no longer injured and can resume running- but it can be a good form of cross training.

To be clear- I'm not talking about racewalking technique, and the straight leg that is required.