If there’s one thing we love here at HuffPost UK, it’s a good walk.
We’ve written before about the merits of “Japanese walking,” “retro walking,” “meditative walking,” walking earlier in the mornings, “6-6-6 walking,” and “mindful walking” (phew). We’ve also shared how much walking is linked to lower dementia risk, how many steps a day really helps you live longer, and whether a few longer walks are better than many shorter strolls.
But even we have to admit that when it comes to building muscle, it’s not most fitness experts’ first pick.
That’s a shame because, as well as being linked to up to four years of extra life, strength training is key for maintaining functionality and independence as we age.
Here, we spoke to The Gym Group’s Master Trainer, Jenni Tardiff, about how good the exercise is for our muscles, really is – as well as how she makes it more strengthening.
Does walking build any muscle at all?
It might, slightly, in the beginning.
A 2019 study found that 17 weeks of progressively challenging walking and stair-climbing sessions seemed to make older adults’ thigh muscles bigger.
Another paper noted that a 10-week walking intervention led to benefits thigh muscle quality, though another group that also used resistance training got better results.
“Walking can help strengthen the muscles in your legs, particularly if you’re new to exercise,” Tardiff told us.
But she added, “It’s primarily an aerobic exercise, which is great for overall health and mental wellness rather than a muscle-building exercise”.
That’s partly because of how muscle growth works. To get bigger, muscle tissue has to undergo a process called hypertrophy. To achieve this, you need to keep pushing your body further and further with increasingly bigger loads.
Unless you walk with heavy weights – like a farmer’s carry – though, resistance levels are minimal and the force exerted on your muscles stays about the same.
3 ways to make walking more of a strength workout
Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t get more strengthening bang for your buck from your walk.
Tardiff shared four ways to “make walking more challenging for your muscles”:
1) Try “rucking”
Rucking, or walking with a heavy-ish backpack on, is an easy way to add that much-needed resistance element to your walk.
“You can also wear a weighted vest,” the trainer told us.
Start small, though, and if you’re “rucking”, make sure the weight is sitributed evenly so it doesn’t hurt your back.
2) Walk uphill, or try “incline walking” on the treadmill
Either will do, the expert said.
A 2021 study found that walking on a treadmill with either a 10% or 16% incline (slope) engaged participants’ muscles and raised their heart rates more than walking at a 0% incline, or flat ground.
3) Japanese or interval walking
Another way to “musclemaxx” your walk? Learning to “power walk in intervals” could help, the trainer continued.
An example of interval walking is the “Japanese” or “3-3-3” walking style, which asks us to walk for three minutes at a fast pace and slowly for another three minutes.
A 2007 paper found that, among middle-aged participants, those who tried “Japanese walking” left with lower blood pressure, stronger thigh muscles, and better aerobic ability than those who either did not walk or walked 8,000 steps a day at a moderate pace.
No matter what walking style you pick, though, Tardiff said it’s important to recognise the activity’s limitations.
Ultimately, she ended, “if your goal is to build muscle, you’ll need dedicated strength training with progressive overload”.
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