How to make walking work for you

Joanna Hall, the creator of a six-week fitness programme for families and their dogs, gives some advice on technique and an overview of the training plan
Athletes compete in the men's 50km walk
Athletes compete in the men's 50km walk. Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

Walking to improve your fitness is not just a case of walking further. In fact, if you master the correct technique and walk at the right pace you'll see real results with fewer steps. If you don't get to grips with technique and find the right pace, then it doesn't matter how many steps you take or how long you walk - you won't get body-changing results. But get these things right and you'll be making each step work for you, rather than just putting one foot in front of another.


To walk well and improve your posture, you need to think about four things:

1.Use the whole foot
Make sure you walk right through the whole foot using the heel, arch of the foot and toes. As you push off the foot your toes should be working so your ankle is open and not stiff – a bit like a pointed toe. This is vital as it means you start to use your hip extensor muscles which help tighten and firm your bottom

2. Stabilise your hips
Keep your pelvis stable by imagining you have a cup of water on each hip as you walk. Try not to spill any water - this helps you use your deep abdominal core muscles , helping to fix your pelvis and making your hip extensor muscles work effectively with each stride.

3. Lengthen your neck
Dont just think about walking tall – combat rounded shoulders and slouched posture by visualising your neck as long. This makes you stretch tall, but at the same time helps draw your shoulders back and down, improving posture.

4. Use your arms
Arms are speed accelerators, and also help engage your upper abdominal muscles, nipping in your waist . This will knock inches off your middle in 6 weeks!


Poor pace is the biggest crime committed by walkers. Studies published in the American College of Sports Medicine show that you need to walk at a consistent pace of at least 110 steps a minute to see physiological health improvements. In my studies, we have observed that the average person dawdles at a pace closer to 90-95 steps a minute. This means no matter how many steps you are doing, you are not going to change your body shape.

I help my clients to establish their own optimum walking pace (OWP) - this is a unique pace that is fast enough to feel challenging, but is still controlled, so technique and posture are not compromised. The OWP for most people is 125-145 steps a minute . Tip: Steps need to be recorded on an accurate pedometer, as many have been shown to have a major error rate of up to 58%.

How to establish your OWP

First establish your breakpoint walking pace. Start walking and increase your pace every 30 seconds until you are just about to break into a jog. This is your breakpoint. Ease off this pace by 5-10% and you have your OWP.

The six-week programme

Week one is all about walking well and establishing an OWP . Prior to starting the programme, wear a pedometer for a week to establish your baseline number of steps - week one's homework is to add at least 1,000 steps on to your baseline every day. Walk at least two walks of 4,000 steps with your dog and the rest of your family.

In week two, add 2,000 steps on to your baseline and complete at least 2 x 5,000-step walks with your dog and family members.

In week three, match the highest number of steps you walked on any day in week two, and repeat every day. Complete 3 x 5,000-step walk with your dog and family.

Week four is consolidation week: repeat week three's exercises.

In week five, walk at least 3,000 steps a day more than your baseline, focussing on tightening your abdominal muscles.

In week six, congratulations! You've completed the programme.