Fast Walking: Effectiveness and How to Train

Fast walking, like running, can be done indoors, on a treadmill, or outdoors, outdoors. It should be noted that, usually, this activity requires less effort, risks and complications than cross-country running and more - also compared to swimming, walking, cycling, canoeing, rowing, etc. On the other hand, many sportsmen (especially runners) underestimate fast walking, considering it a "mild, not very intense and not very effective" activity. of a "motor activity that, from the biomechanical point of view, engages the organism in a very different way; therefore, it is the intensity (understood as speed and slope of the ground) and the volume of work that define the" global commitment of fast walking .

What is certain is that, with the aim of increasing the anaerobic threshold and maximum oxygen consumption, running offers greater possibilities of stimulation; moreover, in an advanced athletic field, it would not be possible to train running by performing fast walking. This is why, in general, , this activity is considered a "fitness or wellness activity, or a motor therapy, rather than a real sport - also given the absence of any competitive circuit.

Among the main applications of fast walking we mention: weight loss, cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation, prevention and improvement of certain respiratory disorders, prevention of various degenerative forms related to old age, etc. However, this too is not a practice without contraindications; it can be discouraged in the presence of muscular and osteoarticular discomfort, or closely related to a condition of severe obesity.