If you go for daily walks, you might sometimes be going for a long walk, and sometimes it might be like you might be going for a faster 10 minutes power walk. You will be benefited in both cases, however, let us take a deeper look at the benefits of both these types of walking and try to conclude which is better.
Is It Better To Walk Faster Or Longer?
You can try to walk faster in one week and then try walking longer in the next. Both types of walk have their importance.
What Benefits Do You Get From Walking Faster And Shorter Distance?
Many times we skip walking or exercise because of the busy schedule that we run with. However, if you have limited time to exercise, all you can do is go for a short and fast or speed walking. You can take a speed walk or a high-intensity walk for 15 minutes per day and that would be equal to 30 minutes of moderate-intensity walking.
So, it means with just 15 minutes of fast-walk, you can match the level of the recommendation from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention or the CDC that tells one should go for 30 minutes of movement at a moderate intensity.(1)
By doing this, you can get numerous benefits of aerobic activities, such as this can help you strengthen your heart and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, improve your cognitive function, enhance the immune system function, and also help in improving your overall mood.(2,3,4)
NOTE: Keep it noted that such type of high-intensity walking or walking faster can have a greater risk of injury. So, you should take all necessary precautions and self-care, like stretching, mobility work, along strength training to ensure that you have to walk ahead with high intensity.
What Benefits Do You Get From Walking Longer And At A Slower Pace?
If you have enough time to spend for yourself, then feel relaxed and take a long and slow walk, instead of walking faster or preferring high-intensity walking. You will receive the same amount of heart health benefits. However, along with it, you will also reduce the risk of injury and even build endurance.
Apart from this, when you walk slowly for a long time, you get enough time to keep yourself feeling good and happy as you might be spending a nice time watching the nature around, enjoying the chirping of birds, feeling the cool breeze, especially when you go for the walk in the early morning. This would be a great mental time-out for you. And, it must be noted that mental health is equally important for you as important physical health is.
Over time you will get adapted to the longer walks and slowly you can also add a little bit of speed to your walk, that would be more beneficial.
What Could Be Concluded?
It can be concluded from above that walking faster and also walking longer come with their specific benefits. So, it depends on what kind of walk you want to go for as your daily fitness routine. You can also try to walk faster somedays and some days go for longer walks. So, go for a slow and long walk, watching at nature’s sight somedays, and somedays walk faster listening to your favorite music and break a sweat.
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