From mental health to community connection,
the benefits of walking are vast.
However, a little effort is key to tip those steps towards building strength. While you don’t need to adopt an olympic-power-walking-hip-swivel to count your walks as a workout, it does help to add some challenge to your daily strolls. And contrary to popular trends — weighted vests aren’t the only way to up the intensity of your walking.
The secret lies in understanding your own capabilities…introducing the Borg Scale (Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE))
RPE Scale – A tool for personalizing your effort levels:
| Rating | Perceived Exertion Level |
|---|---|
| 0 | No exertion, at rest |
| 1 | Very light |
| 2-3 | Light |
| 4-5 | Moderate, somewhat hard |
| 6-7 | High, vigorous |
| 8-9 | Very hard |
| 10 | Maximum effort, highest possible |
The beauty of this scale lies in its personalization. Depending on their conditioning, one person’s 5 might be another person’s 10. This not only allows someone to determine how hard they’re working when they walk at a normal pace but also lets them know what kind of effort they might need to put into play in order to push the boundaries towards strength-building.
Here’s a simple way to put it into action.
ASSIGNMENT: Calibration Walk
This walk will help you become acquainted with your body’s signals and give you a baseline for future walks.
- Plan for a 25-minute walk
- Warm-up: 5 mins easy walking.
- Vary Pace: Try different speeds of walking throughout.
- Notice: Pay attention to how you feel at each varied pace.
- Overall exertion: How hard are you working?
- Breathing: Is it easy and comfortable, or are you breathing heavily?
- Heart rate: Is your heart beating faster?
- Muscles: Legs feel light, or starting to feel fatigued?
- Use the Borg Scale: Rate your perceived exertion at each pace change.
- Record Your Observations
- Cool-down: 5 minutes of easy walking and gentle stretch
After your calibration walk you should have a baseline understanding of what it feels like to walk at a rate of 3 vs 5 and possibly an 8 vs 6. We often describe a 1 as laying on the couch and a 10 as an all-out effort that you cannot sustain for very long.
Using these numbers as guidelines can help you better calibrate your walks to include more of a fitness focus (higher RPE) as opposed to a leisurely focus (lower RPE) – which, by the way, is also a great reason to take a walk!
Regardless of why you’re walking…
Using RPE makes every walk more effective. It allows you to transform a simple walk into a personalized workout, maximizing your experience by understanding and respecting your body’s signals.
This mindful approach ensures that every step contributes to your intentions for moving your body that day, making your walks a powerful tool for overall well-being.
Movement is a powerful pillar of well-being that can be satisfied in many creative ways. The team at Sarana Health is here to help you determine the best, most personalized approach to your physical health. Book a health chat with us to learn more today!
