What To Pay Attention To When Running or Walking?

We all learned how to walk and run in early childhood. But do we really know how to do it right? Are there any health indicators you shoul focus on?

Here are some figures to look at while walking or running to keep track of your health.

Heart Rate

To find out whether your heart is working properly and properly enduring stress, you need to monitor your heart rate. Everyone has a different regular heart rate when performing certain physical activities.

The average heart rate while walking is about 110 to 120 beats per minute. While running, you should be at 50 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, which is between 100 and 160 beats per minute, on average.

Pace

Knowing your pace, you can determine how long it will take you to cover a certain distance. Having an individually defined tempo helps improve speed, neuromuscular coordination, training intensity, and, most importantly, you can control your energy over a certain distance. It should be noted that your pace will change depending on the type of workout: running, race walking, or simple walking.

The pace for an easy walk is about 12:25 minutes per kilometer, while a fast walk will be around 9:20 minutes per kilometer. An average pace for runners is about 6:30 per kilometer, while advanced runners can do one kilometer in 5:20 minutes or faster.

Cadence

This is how many times your feet touch the ground in a minute while walking or running. The optimal cadence is based on: current pace, height, weight, leg length, and running ability. The slower your stride is, the more work your body does with each step. The higher your cadence is, the less work your body has to do for each step, reducing the risk of injury while running.

Acceptable walking cadence is about 100-120 steps per minute. Optimal running cadence will be somewhere between 170-180 strides per minute.

VO2 max

This measures the maximum amount of oxygen your body receives and then transported to the muscles to be used to generate aerobic energy in a minute as efficiently as possible. Generally, a higher VO2 max is associated with a higher fitness level. It is usually measured in laboratories and is an objective metric to track your training progress.

Having a higher VO2 max will help you live longer by maintaining your health and physical fitness well into your later years. It also boosts your endurance and immune system and reduces stress. The most pleasant thing to remember is that even occasional training will help improve your VO2 max.

Observing all of the above factors will help you plan your walks and runs more effectively to achieve your fitness goals.