7 Anything-But-Boring Walking Workouts to Switch Up Your Casual Strolls

Walking can serve up a pretty perfect form of fitness for those just getting started with exercise. You can do it anywhere, with a solid pair of walking shoes, and you can go for as long or as hard as you want.

While many runners often think of walking as an activity that’s only for beginners, it can also support your performance on the road, even if you regularly clock speedy miles.

“Running and walking don’t have to be either-or, and walking is not lesser than running,” Elizabeth Corkum (a.k.a. Coach Corky), New York City-based certified run coach and personal trainer tells Runner’s World. You can do both and love both—and you can leverage your walking sessions to fit your running or overall fitness goals.

Here, we explain everything you can gain from adding walking workouts to your schedule, plus seven ways to switch it up and make the most of those strolls.

“Walking provides the opportunity to slow down and think about your posture and make sure its correct,” Joyce Shulman, CEO and pack leader of 99 Walks, a walking challenge platform and community, tells Runner’s World.

To tune into posture while walking, think about keeping your shoulders directly over your hips and pulled down away from your ears, and avoid arching or rounding your back, Shulman says.

Walking is also great for active recovery days, and it can bridge the gap between the extremes of stationary hours spent sitting at a desk or in a car and going out for an intense run, Corkum says. “Not all training should be a sweat fest and intense,” she explains. “You might be surprised how adding walking to your workouts affects running in a good way.”

Walking can also provide a different mental and emotional experience than running. “Running is like a big shake it off—you leave everything behind in an aggressive way. Walking gives you the opportunity to actually process everything,” Corkum says.

Goal: Build Endurance

Dave McGovern, a USA Track and Field coach, racewalking competitor, and author of the The Complete Guide to Competitive Walking, suggests doing this long walk the day after a long training run. It will get your blood pumping, but you won’t have as much impact on your bones and joints.

“Regular walking is a really good break for the runner who still wants to burn calories, work different muscles, and work muscles in a different range of motion than running,” McGovern tells Runner’s World.

1. It’s pretty simple: Just get out and walk for 2 to 6 hours.
2. Keep the pace light and easy. If you can, walk on trails, where the terrain changes so you get to recruit different muscles throughout.

On the treadmill: Set the incline at 1 percent and start walking. McGovern recommends putting on a long movie, television series, or podcast.

Goal: Improve Cadence

“Having to keep one foot on the ground at all times means that walkers need to maintain very high cadence rates,” McGovern says. “Think about shorter, faster strides and actively using the feet, rolling from heel to toe and really pushing off the toes at the end of the stride. Also, bend elbows 90 degrees to shorten the pendulum and help with that shorter, faster stride.”

Maintain a comfortable stride length—don’t overextend your step, McGovern adds. A good goal for cadence is 130 to 140 steps per minute.

1. Start with 15 minutes of easy, but progressively faster walking.
2. Perform dynamic drills, like front-to-back and side-to-side leg swings and hip circles.
3. Do 30- to 45-second bursts on a 5-percent incline (start at 30 seconds if you’re new to intervals).
4. Walk slowly back down.
5. Repeat 8 times.

On the treadmill: Walk up the 5-percent incline for 30 to 45 seconds, then straddle the treadmill for one minute of recovery. Repeat 8 times.

Goal: Strengthen Lower Body

If you want to build lower body strength, practice squats. The slower you do them, the better (and harder), they are, says Shulman, who created this workout. Keep your chest tall and knees driving outward rather than letting them fall in toward each other. At the end of this workout, you will have crushed 100 squats.

1. Warm up for 5 minutes at a purposeful walking pace.

2. Perform warmup stretches:

• 20 steps in slow motion as if you were walking through quicksand.
• 20 steps as if you are stepping over a thigh-high obstacle.
• 20 slow walking lunges.

3. Now, begin to build intensity:

• 2 minutes at a moderate walking pace.
• 2 minutes at a quick walking pace.
• 2 minutes at your fastest walking pace.

4. Perform the squat series:

• 60-second moderate walk.
• 15 squats.
• 60-second moderate walk.
• 20 squats.
• 60-second moderate walk.
• 15 squats.

5. Complete 5 minutes walking at a fast, but sustainable pace.

6. Repeat the squat series.

7. Cool down with 5 minutes at a moderate pace.

On the treadmill: Same workout.

Goal: Strengthen Upper Body

While walking is a lower-body focused workout, you can easily add in some arm exercises into each step to get your upper half in on the sweat.

This workout targets your shoulders and chest. The upper body moves don’t require weights, but the high reps will increase your upper-body endurance, which is great for long-distance runners as you need endurance to maintain posture through later miles.

For the walking portions of the workout (done inside or out), make sure you walk with purpose—like you have somewhere to go.

1. Warm up for 5 minutes:

• Walk at an easy but intentional pace.
• Roll your shoulders up and back for 10.
• Roll your shoulders up and forward for 10.

2. Build your speed:

• Minutes 5:00 to 7:00: level one speed.
• Minutes 7:00 to 9:00: level two speed.
• Minutes 9:00 to 11:00: level three speed.

3. Perform the upper body set (continue walking at a moderate pace):

• 20 circles forward (arms perpendicular to your body, palms facing down).
• 20 circles back (arms perpendicular to your body, palms facing down).
• 20 flies (elbows bent at 90 degrees, palms facing each other, bring elbows together in front of your chest, then open wide to pull shoulder blades together).
• 20 touch-downs (elbows bent at 90 degrees, palms facing forward, reach hands to the sky and touch fingertips above head, then pull arms back down).

4. 10 minutes at your “perfect pace” a.k.a. one that feels purposeful, free, and like you could keep going forever.

5. Repeat the upper body set.

6. Cool down for 5 minutes at a moderate pace.

On the treadmill: Same workout.

Goal: Better Your Balance

“Balance is often something that we take for granted until we start to lose it,” says Shulman. “But it’s something we should train our entire lives.” While you need balance just to walk (you’re transferring weight from one foot to another, after all), being able to stand on one leg is essential for running, and preventing falls and injuries, too.

Here’s how to incorporate single-leg stability into your walking workout, whether you’re outside or on the treadmill.

1. Warm up for 5 minutes at a purposeful walking pace, focusing on breathing.

2. Perform the first balance series:

• 20 ankle rotations each leg (balancing on the standing leg).
• 20 tight-rope steps (slow, heel-to-toe steps in a straight line).
• 20 slow marches (draw one knee to chest, then repeat with other leg).

3. Build intensity:

• 2 minutes at a moderate walking pace.
• 2 minutes at a quick walking pace.
• 2 minutes at your top walking pace (without running).

4. Perform the second balance series:

• 20 leg lifts extending leg behind you with a two-second hold.
• 20 side leg lifts with a two-second hold.
• 20 front leg lifts with a two-second hold.

5. 10 minutes at your “perfect pace” a.k.a. one that feels purposeful, free, and like you could keep going forever.

6. Cool down for 5 minutes at a moderate pace.

On the treadmill: Follow the instructions above, but hop off the treadmill for the balance series.

Goal: Increase Power

In this workout, designed by Corkum, you’ll target the glutes, hamstrings, calves, quads, and your midsection muscles—all of which help support your running mechanics. “If you think about your form and over-exaggerate the arm swing and knee drive, hill climbs can also act as a drill for run form,” Corkum says.

To maximize that outcome, make sure you lean into the hill and notice how your stride length changes as you go up and down the incline. Consider this workout your go-to for cross-training when you want a low-impact day.

1. Warm up with 5 minutes of easy walking on flat ground. Take deep inhales and exhales as you go and a few shoulders rolls to open the chest and find a neutral posture.
2. End the warmup at the base of a hill that's roughly a 3- to 6-percent incline (it should be an obvious hill but not a mountain).
3. Alternate walking up the hill for 2 minutes and down the hill for 2 minutes.
4. Repeat 10 times.
5. Cool down with 5 minutes of easy walking.

On the treadmill: Warm up and cool down as listed above. Adjust your pace slightly to a strong walk (not a power walk—you should be able to maintain the pace on hills without holding onto the treadmill. Arms should be able to swing naturally as though you were outside.) Maintain this speed for the duration of the workout. Alternate elevation between 2 minutes at a 0-percent incline and 2 minutes at a 4- to 6-percent incline. Repeat 10 times.

Goal: Get Faster

This is like your typical Fartlek run, but you’ll walk. “Fartleks are a beautiful intro to speed running,” Corkum says. “It’s a great way to vary pace and cadence and allows you to push and pull back on pace, while tuning into how it feels. If you’re doing these intervals the right way, it can be aerobically tough, but it gives people a lot of flexibility by taking the metrics out of the equation, which is liberating and freeing.”

Have fun with this one and listen to your body—speed up and slow down when you need to, which requires keeping your mind focused on the action.

1. Start with 5 minutes of easy walking on flat ground. Take deep inhales and exhales as you go and a few shoulders rolls to open the chest and find a neutral posture.
2. Find a mostly (if not all) flat route for this walk.
3. Walk for 20 minutes, alternating paces as you please. Simply focus on how your breathing feels and pay specific attention to core, arm, and leg form. You can use a fun playlist, your watch, or your own cues like street lamps or blocks for deciding when to push or pull back on speed. It can be 30 seconds here and 45 seconds there, or whatever feels best. The beauty of Fartlek is that it’s completely flexible.
4. Cool down with 5 minutes of walking at an easy pace.

On the treadmill: Set the incline to 0 percent and follow the instructions above.

Mallory Creveling

Deputy Editor, Health & Fitness

Mallory Creveling, an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, joined the Runner's World and Bicycling team in August 2021. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. As a freelance writer, her work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, PA.