Here Are The Benefits Of Adding Fast Intervals To Your Walk

Walking is cooler than ever, thanks in large part to the made-famous-by-TikTok Hot Girl Walk trend. Not only is it cool, but walking is also great for your mental health and your physical health.

There are even ways to make your walks more beneficial, whether that’s Nordic walking (a kind of walking that uses poles, similar to ski poles, to incorporate your upper body) or interval walking, which, according to Harvard Health, gets your heart rate up more than a regular walk.

An interval walk incorporates phases of fast and moderate walking to create a heart-pumping, challenging workout. You can mix and match the duration of each pace however you like, but generally the majority of the walk is done at a moderate pace with the quicker pace sprinkled throughout. It’s common to do this workout at a 2-to-1 ratio, meaning you walk at a moderate pace for double the amount of time of a fast pace (so, walk at a moderate pace for two minutes and follow it up with a faster one-minute walk), but it’s really up to you how you split it up.

During the moderate walking pace, you should be at about 30% to 40% of your maximum effort, said Kate Lemere, chief instructor at Barry’s Chicago. In other words, your walk should be at a pace that would allow you to hold a conversation.

During vigorous, fast intervals, she said, you’ll want to be around 70% of your maximum effort, a pace at which it should be more difficult to string together a complete sentence.

Interval walking is a way to add something different to your regular walk and can make it much more efficient.

Here, experts share all of the ways interval walking is good for your health.

It shortens the amount of time you need to exercise.

“What does interval training do for you? It