Does Walking on an Incline Up Your Walking Game?

Do you like to walk for exercise? Walking on a flat surface is fine, however if your body is too used to this you may need to find a more challenging place to walk. If you are looking to make noticeable improvements to your body, try incline walking. Adding incline walking to your cardio routine can improve your leg muscles, heart rate, and boost the number of calories you burn.

Incline walking is just as the name suggests. You are walking on an incline by going up somewhere as opposed to walking on a flat surface. Like many exercises, you can choose to do your incline exercises indoors or outdoors. If you find somewhere outdoors to do your incline training, you may notice road signs that indicate the grade of a hill. Depending on the grade, the road elevation will change a certain amount of feet for every 100 feet of horizontal distance. If you are looking for the ability to change the gradient on the fly, then a treadmill that can incline will be ideal for you. Most treadmills offer settings that change the incline to what you want or have preset programs that change the incline automatically as you walk.

The benefits of incline walking are great if you are willing to put the work in. Going for a walk on an incline can increase the muscles in your lower legs. Some research even shows that incline walking can significantly strengthen the peroneal muscles, which helps people strengthen weak ankles. Additionally, walking on an incline burns more calories and boosts your heart rate. Studies show that as the incline you walk on increases, your heart rate will increase even more.

Walking is an excellent way to get your cardio in, however walking on an incline takes it a step further by offering more of a challenge. Incline walking allows you to target and strengthen your lower leg muscles while also burning calories and boosting your heat rate.

For more information on walking on an incline, click here.

Article written by William Graves.