Walking Challenge: 28 Days to See a New You!

A 28-day walking challenge will increase your fitness and sculpt your body– without all the wear and tear you get from other high-impact sports.

The first key to lose pounds with walking is consistency– you must walk every day. Next, you’ll want to make sure that you are working at a level that gets your heart rate up where it should be.

The walking challenge below will do just that and more. You’ll see a whole new you with only 20-minutes a day…

Weekly Walking Challenge Schedule

With this schedule, you’ll an awesome mix of power, strength, endurance, and active recovery. (Each of the walking challenge routines are described in more detail below.)

Repeat for 4 weeks

Monday: Power Walk
Tuesday: Strength Walk
Wednesday: Endurance Walk
Thursday: Power Walk
Friday: Strength Walk
Saturday: Endurance Walk
Sunday: Active Rest Walk with Stretching

The Walking Routines

Each of the routines below are designed to give you a complete fat-burning workout in 20 minutes. A stop watch or watch with a timer is useful to keep track of the time.

Power Walk

Interval training, or HIIT is perfect for getting big fat-loss results from short workouts. For this walk, use a scale of 1-10 to determine your effort level. A level 1 would be sleeping, 5 would be a brisk walk, and 10 would be an all-out sprint.

5-min warm-up walk; @ 5/10 effort level
2-min brisk walking; @ 6/10 effort level
2-min faster walking; @ 7-8/10 effort level
1-min maximum walking speed; @ 9-10/10 level
2-min brisk walking; @ 6/10 effort level
2-min faster walking; @ 7-8/10 effort level
1-min maximum walking speed; @ 9-10/10 level
5-min cool down

Strength Walk

Start this walk with a plank hold or pushups to target your arms and abs. As you walk, you’ll mix in walking lunges to lift your bootie and tone your thighs. The big finisher: 1-minute of burpees for your full body. If burpees or mountain climbers are too much, do air squats, squeezing your butt and thighs for a big burn.

Plank hold or push-ups: 1-min.
Warm-up walk; @ 5/10 effort level: 4-min.
Walking lunges: 1-min
Brisk walking; @ 6/10 effort level: 2-min.
Walking lunges: 1-min.
Brisk walking: @ 6/10 effort level: 2-min.
Walking lunges: 1-min.
Brisk walking: @ 6/10 effort level: 2-min.
Burpees, mountain-climbers, or air-squats: 1-min
Cool down: 4-min.

Endurance Walk

Build your endurance by kicking your walk up for a sustained period of time. As you improve, head for a hill or an incline on your treadmill for even more of a workout.

Warm up walk @ 5/10 effort level: 5-min.
Fast walking @ 7-8/10 effort level: 10-min.
Cool-down @ 5/10 effort level: 5-min.

Active Rest Walk with Stretching

You should never stretch cold muscles. That’s why you’ll start with 20-minute walk to warm up and get your blood circulating. Then do the 6-minute whole body stretching routine at the end.

Hold each stretch for about 30 seconds:

Triceps stretch

Reach your arms over your head and grab the elbow of one arm with the hand of your opposite arm. Pull on the elbow to feel a stretch in your triceps and ribs. Repeat on the opposite side.

Back and shoulder stretch

Pull one arm across the front of your chest with the other to feel a stretch in your upper back, and back of your shoulder. Repeat on the opposite side.

Chest, biceps, and shoulder stretch

Hold onto a doorway or wall. Gently lean forward until you feel a stretch. Move your hand up and down to stretch your chest from different angles. Repeat on the opposite side.

Hamstring stretch

Place one foot on a bench or bar and straighten your raised leg. If that feels comfortable, contract your quads as you slowly fold forward to feel a deeper stretch in the back of your legs.

Quad stretch

Grab your ankle behind you and pull gently until you feel a stretch in your quads. Use a wall or back of a chair to balance if necessary. Repeat on the opposite side.

Calf stretch

Place one foot in front of the other. Lean forward, keeping the heel of your back foot on the ground so you can feel a stretch in your calf. Repeat on the opposite side.

Improve Your Walking Form

You probably haven’t thought a lot about how you walk; you just sort of do it, right? By improving your form, you’ll strengthen more muscles, walk more efficiently, and prevent injury during your walking challenge.

Here’s what to do:

• Lift your chin up (stop looking down at your phone).
• Keep your shoulders back; open up your chest.
• Swing your arms naturally with your elbows close to your body.
• Squeeze your glutes with each stride.
• Activate your abs to support your core.
• Land your heel first, then roll to your toes.
• Push forward with your toes at the end of your stride.

7 Ways to Add More Intensity

As you become fitter, you might find your walks getting easier. It isn’t necessary to increase the amount of time you spend walking to get a better workout. All you need to do is increase your intensity.

You can add more intensity to your walking challenge by doing the following:

• Increase your speed.
• Increase your incline; add hills.
• Swing your arms higher.
• Take longer strides by pushing off more with your rear foot.
• Add stairs into your route, or hop on a stair climber.
• Walk on uneven surfaces; add in trails.
• Walk on soft surfaces like the beach.

A Couple Handy Walking Stats for You

These stats can vary, depending on your height, weight, inseam, and terrain. However, they are good to know if you ever need to make an educated guess about your walking workout.

• There are approximately 1,700 steps in a mile.
• Brisk walking pace is about 3.0 mph, and you’ll cover about 1 mile in 20 minutes.
• Fast walking pace is about 4.0 mph, and you’ll cover about 1 mile in 15 minutes.

And did you know?

• The American Heart Association says that walking briskly can help your health as much as running.
• As you age, the faster you can walk, the longer you’ll live.

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About the Writer: 100 pounds ago, Jan knew what it is like to be obese, unhappy, and stuck. She has spent the last 17 years as a fitness writer, trainer, yoga teacher, and Weight Loss Coach. Today, she’s proud to be a part of the Personal Trainer Food team so she can continue her goal to help others live their fullest lives possible. Email [email protected] if you have any questions!

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