How to Increase Walking Speed

Walking is an excellent way to strengthen your cardiovascular system, burn calories and rid yourself of unwanted fat. If you want to increase this benefit, you can pick up the pace. Learning to increase your walking speed will help you burn more calories in less time. The faster you go, the more you burn. Here's how!

Things You'll Need

  • Sneakers appropriate for walking
  • A safe area to walk and/or a treadmill
  • Pedometer
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Instructions

    • 1

      Begin your walking program at a comfortable pace. Be sure to swing your arms while you walk. Your arms and legs work together as you walk, and pumping your arms helps the cardio effect of your workout.

    • 2

      To build endurance, continue with your moderate pace for about 5 minutes. Pick up your pace for another minute, then fall back to a moderate pace for another 5 minutes.

    • 3

      Continue with the alternate pace routine until you feel that you can increase for longer. Picking up the pace for longer periods of time will help you continuously build on your walking routine.

    • 4

      Another way to increase your performance is to use a pedometer, which will keep track of the number of steps you are taking while walking. Slowly increasing this number will increase your speed and tweak your workout.

    • 5

      Walking with a buddy can also help you increase your speed. The talk test works great! While you are walking, if you can hold a conversation comfortably, you are walking too slowly. If you are gasping for air while you are talking, you need to slow down the pace a bit.