Gone are the days of solely enduring intense high-impact exercise sessions like CrossFit and bootcamp sessions day after day nowadays chilly low-impact activities , like walking , are enjoying a resurgence, and rightly so. It isn’t just feel it's great to log your steps—in fact, walking is genuinely beneficial health benefits And can enhance any exercise regimen.
Walking has been found to increase aerobic fitness, decrease body fat, and reduce blood pressure in sedentary adults, according to a 2023 study in GeroScience . The review also found that people who live in Blue Zones, regions of the world where people tend to live the longest, do low-impact activities (like walking) on a regular basis.
Meet the experts: Grace Horan is a certified specialist in exercise physiology from the Hospital for Special Surgery . Lindsey Bomgren , CPT, is a certified personal trainer and the creator of Nourish, Move, Love . Erica Coviello , CPT, is a certified personal trainer and the founder of Run, Fit, Stoked .
However, building muscle is also incredibly important when it comes to living and moving healthily for a long time. Ahead, find out whether walking on its own can build muscle, which muscles it works, and how to reap more strength benefits from your walking routine.
Therefore, is it possible for walking to really help build muscles?
While strolling can aid in development muscular endurance (also known as your muscles' capacity to maintain physical activity over extended durations), it is not The best method for building muscle, according to Grace Horan, a certified exercise physiologist.
To develop muscles, the human body needs to be consistently challenged by boosting either the resistance or the amount of exercise, a concept referred to as progressive overload ," Horan states. Going solo isn't challenging enough to promote muscle growth. hypertrophy (a boost in muscular size), which can be more effectively achieved through resistance training , she says.
The primary reason why walking alone isn't very effective for stimulating muscle growth is because it mainly engages your slow-twitch muscle fibers. These fibers enhance muscular endurance and help you resist fatigue rather than increase muscle size, according to Horan. It’s worth noting that your fast-twitch muscle fibers, which do contribute significantly to building muscle mass, aren’t triggered much during walking. weight lifting , jumping , and sprinting .)
“You can increase the intensity of walks to engage more muscles by adding inclines or a weighted vest, but ultimately you need a greater external stress on the body—like resistance training—in order to build muscle,” adds certified personal trainer Lindsey Bomgren, CPT.
That said, older research proposes that aerobic exercise—including walking—is beneficial. running, or cycling —even aid in building muscle among older individuals and those who are less active. Indeed, consistent physical activity at any level, such as walking, could contribute to preventing various issues. age-related reduction in muscle size , according to 2024 research in the Journal of International Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Therefore, if you're at an advanced age or have a less active lifestyle, walking could contribute to building muscle mass—but lifting weights remains your most effective option for increasing strength.
The Muscles Engaged While Walking
Bomgren states that walking activates various muscle groups. According to Horan, the main muscles responsible for moving you forward encompass the following:
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- Quadriceps : A set of muscles situated at the front of your thighs that function to extend your knees as you move ahead with each stride.
- Hamstrings : A set of muscles located at the rear of your thighs that function to flex your knees and draw your legs backward during walking.
- Glutes (or butt muscles) : Level your pelvis and draw your leg outwards as you bring your feet forward for the next stride.
- Calves : The muscles at the rear of your calves that facilitate foot movement and propel you forward by pushing against the ground.
The auxiliary muscles involved in powering walking include your quadriceps. core and lower back muscles, which assist in supporting your body and enable you to keep an upright posture posture As you walk, Horan mentions.
5 Tips for Gaining Muscle While Walking
You can include specific variables in your setup. walking routine to put more of an emphasis on certain muscles, Bomgren says. Horan recommends walking for 30 minutes a day, five days a week at a moderate-intensity. (Moderate-intensity exercise should quicken your breathing, but not leave you breathless .)
And because strolling isn’t the best method for developing muscles and enhancing general strength, it’s crucial to engage in different kinds of exercises. do strengthen your muscles at least twice every week, such as by doing bodyweight exercises and lifting weights .
Try these tips to elevate your chances of building muscle while you walk, according to our experts:
1. Walk on an incline .
“Walking up a hill, on a hike for example, or a flight of stairs, will activate your glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors, and core muscles more than a flat surface,” Bomgren says.
If you're not stepping outdoors or prefer not to repeatedly ascend your staircase, consider the 12-3-30 treadmill workout (walking for 30 minutes at a speed of 3 miles per hour with a 12% incline) or the 25-7-2 Stairmaster workout (Using a stair climber for 25 minutes at level 7 twice weekly) for a great workout.
2. Utilize props to enhance the intensity.
Rucking —wherein you walk with added weight, like ankle or wrist weights or a weighted vest —"can enhance muscle strengthening as you walk," according to certified personal trainer Erica Coviello, CPT. A weighted vest can engage additional core muscles, and incorporating poles for use could also be beneficial." Nordic walking Bomgren mentions that this will engage more of the upper-body muscles.
If you want to increase the load, begin slowly. Choose the smallest weights, particularly if you're just starting with strength training, and progress incrementally to prevent injuries. Once the current weights become easy and do not leave you exhausted post-exercise, consider moving to heavier ones.
3. Add strength-based exercises.
Since strength training develops more muscle mass compared to walking, pause every five to ten minutes during your stroll to perform some repetitions of exercises such as squats or lunges If you're outdoors, you might as well utilize a park bench for this purpose. pushups or triceps dips .
"Exercise snacks"—brief intermittent bursts of physical activity, such as performing a set of push-ups while your morning coffee is being prepared or incorporating lunges into your stroll—may enhance muscular development, particularly for individuals who lead mostly inactive lifestyles, according to 2024 research findings. Sports Medicine and Healthcare Sciences .
4. Try some HIIT.
Incorporating interval training Incorporating intervals into your walks—which alternates between high-intensity efforts and periods of low-intensity recovery—can aid in building more muscle compared to maintaining a slow, consistent speed, according to Bomgren. This is due to the fact that the quicker you walk, the greater effort your muscles must exert.
Begin with a pace where you walk quickly for one minute, then follow up with five minutes of slower walking. Once you feel comfortable at this rhythm, gradually extend the duration of your faster-paced walks.
5. Try different terrains.
"Altering the terrain can assist in strengthening certain muscles and connective tissues in your ankles and legs," according to Coviello. Incorporate activities like walking on sandy beaches or uneven woodland paths into your regimen to diversify your usual walk and challenge those muscle groups more effectively than you might on a typical paved path.
Even though strolling, particularly on level ground at a slow pace, may not be sufficient for building muscles, you can modify factors such as speed, resistance, slope, and surface type to enhance your likelihood of achieving muscular improvements. However, remember to incorporate strength-training exercises to maximize your potential for boosting both muscle mass and power.
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