Walking Exercises at Home

Walking is among the simplest types of exercise to do, yet it can afford just as many health benefits as more strenuous workouts. Walking is ideal for those who don't want to buy expensive equipment, supplies and gym memberships in order to get fit. Seniors find it helpful because they can set their own pace and not overexert themselves. There are also ways for adults to add variety to their walking workouts to keep them healthy and entertaining.

Things You'll Need

  • Leg weights
  • Hand weights
  • Stop watch
  • Skipping rope
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Make a path to walk. When clearing a space in your house for this workout, make sure that it is free of dangerous obstructions, such as children and pet toys, laundry and other types of clutter. Try to make a path that winds its way around several rooms, or ideally, several floors, to ensure that you will not soon become bored by your workout.

    • 2

      Determine approximately how long it takes you to walk the path that you have cleared. To increase the intensity of your workout, see how long it takes you to walk the route as fast as you can. Every week, try to beat your best time.

    • 3

      Use hand weights. These can be held in either palm as you are walking your route, arms down at your sides. Or, you can do upper body exercises at the same time as your walk. Try doing shoulder raises, bicep curls and forearm lifts as you take each step.

    • 4

      Wear leg weights. These should only be used while you are working out and not walking around the house in general, since doing so can put a great deal of stress on your joints -- especially the knees and ankles. The weights should be heavy enough so that you can walk comfortably, but you should start to feel more exerted than usual after walking several times around you route. To make the workout even tougher, try lifting your knees with each step until they are parallel to the floor.

    • 5

      For even more variety, walk as fast as you can on your route, then stop and run or skip rope in place for thirty seconds to one minute. Then, continue walking your route at your previous speed, or decrease it slightly if you need to rest. This is a way to add intervals to your home walking workout. Intervals can help you get fit in less time than it takes to do a regular exercise session.