Does Walking Help Running? 9 Absolute Benefits!

As a running coach, I’m about to surprise a lot of you by saying you need to walk more! Believe that walking and being a runner aren’t compatible?

Real runners don’t walk?? Right?!

Or do they! This is not about

run-walk intervals

. Where you run for say 2 minutes, walk 1 minute, repeat.

This is about

adding walking to your routine

. Specifically we are usually talking about


power walking


.

While a stroll with friends is ALWAYS good, this is about walking too boost your fitness.

Il y a plusieurs années, j’ai commencé à intégrer la marche dans les plans d’entraînement de mes coureurs. Parfois, il s’agissait de marcher après une longue course, parfois de faire de la marche rapide lors d’une journée de récupération active. Au début, il y a toujours une certaine réticence, puis, en cours de route, un changement.

Ils se rendent compte que la marche est en fait agréable et qu’ils progressent davantage dans leurs courses.

Répondons à cette grande question : la marche est-elle bénéfique pour les coureurs ? En examinant les avantages de la marche, la façon dont vous pouvez l’intégrer et les résultats que vous obtiendrez.

9 façons dont la marche aide la course à pied

Trop de coureurs refusent de marcher, pensant que c’est seulement quelque chose que l’on fait une fois que l’on a frappé la tête la première

dans le mur redouté

. Au lieu de cela, il est temps de réaliser que vous pourriez tirer des avantages considérables en termes d’endurance en ralentissant.

Ajouter un peu de marche à votre routine pourrait bien vous aider à courir plus loin et plus vite en

renforçant la force des jambes, en augmentant la capacité pulmonaire, en réduisant le stress et en brûlant des calories supplémentaires

.

La marche améliore l’endurance

J’ai parlé à plusieurs reprises dans les

échauffements d’avant-course

de l’utilisation de la marche. Il a été démontré que cela vous aide à courir plus loin au cours de cette séance !

Une

2017

étude a examiné le fait de ne rien faire par rapport à un échauffement qui comprenait du jogging et de la marche très FACILE. Le groupe qui s’est échauffé  »

a provoqué des augmentations des variables physiologiques VO

₂

et HR avant la performance

« .

En d’autres termes, l’échauffement a permis d’améliorer les performances. Il s’agit d’un moyen très facile de faciliter l’entrée de votre corps dans vos séances d’entraînement afin que tous vos

muscles, vos poumons, vos articulations se sentent prêts à bouger et demandent donc moins d’énergie.

Consultez mon

échauffement dynamique pour les coureurs

>> ;

La marche prolonge votre temps d’entraînement avec moins de risques de blessures

Cela semble simple, mais si l’objectif de l’entraînement d’endurance est d’apprendre à votre corps à tenir plus longtemps, c’est exactement ce que fait la marche ! Le simple fait d’ajouter une marche d’échauffement d’un demi-mille et une marche de récupération d’un demi-mille signifie que vous avez ajouté un mille entier à chaque séance d’entraînement de la semaine.

Your body isn’t working as hard during that time, but you’re still moving. You’re still consuming energy and spending time on your feet.

Both body and brain are thus becoming more accustomed to longer duration.

“While walking takes longer, it will bestow the same endurance as running, while reducing injury risk. – learn how to do it!”

Love that Jeff Galloway quote!

Power Walking Works the Same Muscles

Unlike other cross training for runners that is geared towards working different muscles, walking is only going to continue enhancing the

muscles running works

.

Your glutes have to continue firing to give you that power in your push off. Your quads are still bracing you on a downhill. Your core is still engaging to help you maintain good posture.

Incline Walking Improves Glute Strength

Let’s touch more on this glute strength piece because for some of you a hard incline treadmill walk might be more beneficial than yet another easy run.

Glute activation

is a huge component of injury prevention for runners.

Uphill workouts force your glutes, quads and calves to recruit twice as many muscle fibers as moving forward on a flat surface. That makes hill walking an incredible way to get in a more

intense low impact workout

on days you may not feel like you have enough energy to run or when you are training for a hilly race!

Walking Can Improve Lower Back Pain

“New research from the University of Texas School of Public Health studied 218 marathon and half marathon participants and found that they run almost an hour daily, but

sit for seven to 10.75 hours per day

.

What’s more, other studies show that even an hour or two of exercise each day does not offset the damage of sitting down the rest of your waking hours.”

– Runners World

So yes, just taking the time to add in some small walk breaks during the day is going to help with a lot of the muscles aches and tightness that you might be feeling during your runs.

Walking is Lower Impact for Recovery Days

Active recovery is a huge piece of marathon training. While some days you need to completely rest, most often taking a walk or doing movement that doesn’t spike your HR on recovery days improves the training effect.

It’s about enjoying these walks as time to simply move your body. Keeping the blood flowing and preventing muscle stiffness or even working through some

muscle soreness from running

(DOMs).

Walking Increases Foot Strength

Walking moves your foot through the full range of motion. You land with your heel then roll all the way forward to push off the ball of the foot. While in running you are landing more on the forefoot without that same full roll through.

This is going to help maintain flexibility and of course more time on your feet means simply increasing that overall foot strength.

Walking is Easier to Sneak in During the Day

For years when I worked in an office, I would try to sneak in a lunch run. That meant somehow changing, running, stopping the sweat, changing back and eating in a 60 minute window.

It’s just not always possible.

But you can swap your work shoes for some walking shoes and snag 15 minutes here and there or a 30 minute lunch walk that doesn’t leave you needing a shower. This is now part of my every day routine!

Where to add walking in your training?

• Walk on rest days as active recovery which is both low impact and beneficial to your run
• Add 10-20 minutes at the end of your long run which will increase the total mileage and time on your feet, but without the added injury risk of running past your limits
• Walk to do errands, walk around the office, pace on the phone
• Walk in place of a run when you are injured or under the weather. Double the time your run would take for the walk.
• Walk with your friends and family over the holidays, instead of vegging out with the TV

If you’ve been focusing on 10,000 steps a day or trying to close your Apple Watch rings, that’s often a fun way to encourage yourself to get in more miles.

Checkout this fun little chart of


how many steps in a mile


running or walking!

What About Walking to Run?

While the focus of this article is on pure walking, don’t think that run-walk intervals are only for newbies. You can read my complete breakdown of the

Galloway Method here

>>

• It works for runners of all levels from beginners to Ironmen
• For new runners walking breaks allows the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems to recover while building endurance.
• For injured runners it reduces the risk of overuse and can be a great mental relief in returning to running.
• In the summer months it allows the heart rate to drop reducing effort
• Many a runner has BQ’ed with this method and swears it kept them injury free {as I always say there is no one right method, be open to testing what works for you}

All right now you can easily answer the question does walking help running? Yes! Emphatically it’s an overlooked component of a great training plan.

Looking for more fun walking tips??

• 
  How many steps are in a mile?
  
• 
  How far did I run?
  
• 
  Guide to Walking a Half Marathon
  
• 
  How to Buy the Perfect Treadmill
  
• 
  Training Plan to Walk a Marathon
  
• 
  Best Treadmill Running Shoes
  

OTHER WAYS TO CONNECT


Get each

new post in your inbox

— talk about speedy service

Facebook:

RunToTheFinish

Get more inspiration on

Pinterest