Will walking 1 hr a day increase fitness?

Shaftmug wrote:

I am already relatively fit compared to the average population (5:30 mile). My commute every day involves about 1hr of brisk walking. Will this have any measurable impact on my fitness or is it minuscule compared to the benefits of running?

I can't recall exactly but I have read many times that just walking daily 2 or 3 miles will increase your life expectancy by years.

Not really.

Of course it is good to breath some fresh air for an hour but from the running perspective it will not do much.

Ari Kaurismakki wrote:

Not really.

Of course it is good to breath some fresh air for an hour but from the running perspective it will not do much.

Agree. Unless your baseline was a 24/7 couch potato this won't do much....

Shaftmug wrote:

I am already relatively fit compared to the average population (5:30 mile). My commute every day involves about 1hr of brisk walking. Will this have any measurable impact on my fitness or is it minuscule compared to the benefits of running?

I did not think walking had much effect but I have two anecdotes that can show it does have. First, I played a lot of golf for some time and carried my bag of clubs. I walked a little briskly. I could run suprisingly well with very little running on top of the golfing.

A colleague of mine in his late teens, did for a summer draw an orienteering map. He had to daily walk around for 7-8 hours ( rather slow walking) and he experienced a jump in his running. He was running an training in paralell all the time. I was suprised.

I would think 1 h has some, but maybe minor effect. If you cranc it up it can have an effect

Some of the turn of the century runners ran pretty fast times considering g the bulk of training was long walks and a few sprints.

Jesus walked on water. Now that is where the big fitness is gained.

No: walking one hour each day will not cause an improvement in your 5:30 mile time.

I would guess that the baseline mile time for someone to improve by walking one mile per day would need to start out somewhere greater than 8:00.

thsjdjdjdjd wrote:

Ari Kaurismakki wrote:

Not really.

Of course it is good to breath some fresh air for an hour but from the running perspective it will not do much.

Agree. Unless your baseline was a 24/7 couch potato this won't do much....

It depends on what the op means by "effect.". No it won't make you a better runner or increase your VO2 max. But walking a half hour a day 5 days a week is shown unequivocally to decrease your cardiovascular risk for heart attack and stroke as much as being a runner. This is one of the most groundbreaking articles of the last 20 years. You hear it quoted all the time on the news when they're talking about something else. You don't have to be a runner or a cyclist or a swimmer to get the cardiovascular benefits of regular physical activity with regard to risk reduction.

Mounty Pylon wrote:

No: walking one hour each day will not cause an improvement in your 5:30 mile time.

I would guess that the baseline mile time for someone to improve by walking one mile per day would need to start out somewhere greater than 8:00.

Actually walking is unlikely improve your running fitness if you can run continuously for say an hour at any pace at all, even 10’ or 11’, nearly all the way up to brisk walking pace, which for most folks is slower than 13’. It can improve running fitness via run-walking for those who cannot run longer distances continuously. Walking can help aerobic fitness but not running speed.

Walking can also improve general fitness if the few hundred calories burned in an hour of brisk walking is a nontrivial fraction of the average daily activity calories, e.g., if the OP’s running on average burns 700/day and walking 300/day.

Sally Vixxxxxxxxens wrote:

Shaftmug wrote:

I am already relatively fit compared to the average population (5:30 mile). My commute every day involves about 1hr of brisk walking. Will this have any measurable impact on my fitness or is it minuscule compared to the benefits of running?

I can't recall exactly but I have read many times that just walking daily 2 or 3 miles will increase your life expectancy by years.

True to both as fitness and health are not synonymous. You will be healthier for the long term but not running fit because of walking.

Enjoy walking, listen to music or a podcast.

I think some are a little categorical saying "No it does not work"

I think we know too little about if walking have an effect or if walking have no effect. What we might be able to say is that we have no compelling evidence it will have an effect on your running, but anecdotal evidence might point in that direction, but it might be this is just coincidents.

Briskly walking will elevate the HR. The first thing that happens is that both the rate and the stroke volume of the heart is increased to a rather low HR compared to max, and then there is only increase in HR. This means that also walking will increase the stroke volume substantially. Then, low intensity running or brisk walking will rely on fat metabolism so these processes will be trained. The more we walk or run slow, the more fat metabolism will be used and adaptations can happen. I guess too little research has been done for walking/running at a relatively low intensity like this.

Then there is strength development in the muscles in case walking in hilly terrain and so on.

My hypothesis is that walking, but for substantial volumes of time can have an effect in developing the base aerobic capacity both centrally for the heart, but also pheripherally out in the muscles and capillaries.

I have no evidence other than for myself. Walking made me need suprisingly small amounts of more intense running to be capable of running fast. Now, I had earlier training and capacity to build on so that could be the explanation for me, but we might not know...

Motion is always better than no motion. Walking is better than sitting. But walking won't get you into any kind of competitive running shape. Note however that the longest longevity around the world is in cultures that walk a lot - Blue Zones.

I think the main potential benefit for a runner is RECOVERY, but there is also the opportunity to condition & strengthen many neglected muscles and reinforce favorable neuromuscular patterns.

A couple things you can do to maximize the benefit:

1. Wear proper walking shoes. Something with a low or 0 drop. High drop shoes interfere with the natural windlass mechanism we use to walk. (specifically pre-mature heel strike, and increased dorsiflexion at contact) Also a wider toebox and flexible sole are beneficial to allow natural toe-splay and let the intricacies of your foot freely do their thing.

2. Walk with proper form. Don't do the lazy foot drop followed by push off from metatarsals, Use your toes. Don't drop your hips, use your glute medious & core to stabilize them. Also, alternate in some intervals to isolate specific muscles like glute activation, and toe-splay.

You'll be surprised by the amount of workout you can achieve by doing all of this, and it is possible to over-do it and actually be sore the next day.

Mileage may very, but an hour of brisk walking will certainly be beneficial. It's a form of cross training.