This trainer's 10-minute walking workout will help you reach your step goal and boost your mobility
Get a gentle cardio workout and stretch out your hips with this routine
With the nights drawing in, you might find it harder to get outside and hit your step target during daylight hours. That can leave you reaching the end of the day with your step goal out of reach. You might try squeezing in an indoor walking workout, but 10,000-step walking workouts on YouTube take more than an hour.
Another solution to fitting some movement into your day is to do a short walking workout that does more than just add to your step count, like this one from trainer Justin Agustin.
Augustin focuses on gentle, functional training, which can help to keep the body strong and mobile as we age. What's more, this routine only takes 10 minutes and will help to develop the muscles and joints you need for walking, making you stronger for the next time you take your walk outdoors. And of course, there's nothing stopping you from repeating the session and adding more than 1,000 steps to your day.
How to do this 10-minute walking workout
A post shared by Justin Agustin (@justinagustin)
A photo posted by on
Do 100 steps of each of the following low-impact movements:
- Knee-up kick-back
- Speed walk
- Big march
- Side step
- Side step hold
- Circle kick
This workout combines quick movements, like the speed walk, to raise your heart rate, with short holds, like the big march and side step hold, to challenge your balance. The circle kick is also a great way to develop your mobility. In fact, we recently turned the spotlight on a mobility coach who recommends making kicking a part of your exercise regime.
It helps to add more benefits to your indoor walking workout, beyond the improved cardio fitness you get from something like this 3,000-step speed walking workout. Agustin has chosen moves that "promote muscle endurance, improve mobility, and increase stamina," as he explains in his Instagram post and working on these areas can help you to walk comfortably for longer.
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Lou Mudge is a Health Writer at Future Plc, working across Fit&Well and Coach. She previously worked for Live Science, and regularly writes for Space.com and Pet's Radar. Based in Bath, UK, she has a passion for food, nutrition and health and is eager to demystify diet culture in order to make health and fitness accessible to everybody.
Multiple diagnoses in her early twenties sparked an interest in the gut-brain axis and the impact that diet and exercise can have on both physical and mental health. She was put on the FODMAP elimination diet during this time and learned to adapt recipes to fit these parameters, while retaining core flavors and textures, and now enjoys cooking for gut health.
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