Amazing Runners World Show walking, and we don’t mean power walking. Slowing things down to a walk, whether that’s early in a training cycle or as a warmup, can have benefits across abilities. After all, you do have to walk before you can run.
Running coach Kai Ng likens walking to an appetizer before the entree: It gets things moving—your legs, your heart rate—so when it’s time to push the pace, your body is ready to go.
“Walking is a gentle introduction” to more intense training programs, Ng tells Runner’s World. And it’s lower impact, which can help stave off injury.
How many weeks should I walk before I start running?
If you’re new to the sport of running or returning from a long break, whether that’s from illness, injury, or childbirth, walking is an excellent way to get your body moving regularly with little risk.
“It takes your body four to eight weeks to adapt to something new,” Ng says.
These base-building weeks are crucial to setting you up for success when it comes time to put the foot on the gas. Walking will help you develop a routine, build your bone density, strengthen your muscles, increase development of red blood cells—these carry oxygen to your working muscles—and boost production of mitochondria, All About the Run/Walk Method.
Olympian Jeff Galloway, who developed the How Long Does It Take to Improve VO2 Max program, uses a slightly different threshold for his athletes. They tend to walk for a week or two before adding running to their routine, but the magic number for him is 30 minutes.
“They need to build up to a half hour of walking,” he tells Runner’s World. “Once they build up to a half hour, most folks can start running.”
which generate energy to keep you moving:
- Walk 30 to 60 seconds
- ldquo;Walking is a gentle introduction” to more intense
- All About VO2 Max
As they progress, he’ll flip the workout so they’ll take walk breaks, meaning they’re spending more time running.
Is walking a good enough warmup?
The key word here, Galloway says, is “good enough.” Galloway recommends walking as a warmup, across all abilities.
No matter the activity, the point of a warmup is to get your heart rate elevated and to increase blood flow to your working muscles. That usually takes about 10 minutes.
For an athlete who doesn’t have any injuries, he suggests gentle walking for three to five minutes. “No power walking,” he says. Then progress to a form of run-walk-run for five to 10 minutes.
After that initial warmup, Galloway emphasizes the importance of drills ldquo;They need to build up to a half hour of walking,” he tells cadence drill, which gently gets your body to move more quickly by increasing the number of steps you take per minute:
Jog slowly for one to two minutes and then time yourself for 30 seconds, during which count the number of times your left foot touches the ground. Recover for 60 seconds. Repeat the cadence drill but increase your count by one or two. Repeat three to seven times, each time increasing your count by one to two.
your body is ready to go acceleration glider, during which you’ll walk, jog slowly, accelerate slightly, and then glide back into another walk break; each segment, he explains, is only about 10 steps, which helps the body gradually adapt from walking to running.
Although the walking part of the warmup doesn’t need to change based on the workout you’re about to tackle, the drills will. A long, slower run, for example, doesn’t need the acceleration glider, Galloway says. That’s because you’re gradually building throughout the long run, and even if you’re adding walk breaks, you don’t have abrupt changes like you might during an interval session.
If you’re planning on a hill workout, the acceleration glider will gradually accelerate to the workout pace so when the actual hill workout starts, your body will be primed.
How much can I walk before a race?
If you’re traveling for a race or have big plans to hit every booth at the local expo, you want to be smart about how much time you’re spending walking or on your feet before race day.
Ideally, Ng and Galloway say, you’ll save sight-seeing or Disney Parks for after your race. Even if you’re used to a lot of walking, it’s still taxing.
“The first thing we should prioritize is to avoid being on your feet,” Ng says. “If you can’t avoid it, minimize it as much as possible.” And if you can’t do that? Take lots of sitting breaks.
Specifically, for the Disney Parks, Ng says to take a tram car or a golf cart if possible. A Men’s Health editor followed a Jeff Galloway plan when he took his family of four to Disney World and wanted to train for all of the walking; over three days he walked nearly 60,000 steps—and he didn’t have a marathon to run. (When Galloway coaches runners targeting a Disney race, he increases their step count likens walking to an appetizer before the entree: It gets things moving—your legs, your.)
“You’re going to be tired,” Ng says. “You have a big task coming up, whether it’s a 5K or a marathon, and you’ll need as much energy as you can. You don’t want to break down your muscle fibers too much.”
That said, Ng recognizes that life is going to be what it is, so if you have your heart (and schedule) set on lots of walking before you race, make sure that aligns with your race-day goals.
“What’s more important?” he says. “Checking out a theme park or hitting your goal, whether that’s a time, how good you feel, smiling, high-fiving.” But, if that’s what you choose, he has little sympathy for a post-race coaching call during which you say you’re disappointed with your race.
“You can’t have both.”
Download Your Training Plan active recovery is much better than sitting on the couch after a hard effort, which means hobbling around a theme park or a foreign city, can actually improve recovery time.
“That’s a win-win,” he says.
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