Hill walking is a very effective way to tone your legs, challenge your cardiovascular system and get into shape. The problem with walking on regular ground is that after a month or so it becomes routine. Your body gets used to it and you may struggle to tone your legs because it does not force the muscles in your legs to do much work. When this happens, you can turn to hill walking in order to maximize your workouts. Though hill walking isn't as challenging as jogging or running, it does force you to work harder while walking. Your thigh muscles and calf muscles will get an increased workout. You will also breathe harder when you walk up hills, meaning you'll be getting yourself into better shape.
Hill Walking: Getting StartedMost treadmills today have a function that allows you to walk or run uphill. While this is effective, not everyone has access to a gym or a treadmill. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy hill walking. All you need to do is locate a neighborhood or park near your home that has lots of hills. You want to find areas that allow you to walk both up and down hill because this works different muscles in your legs and helps you get the most of your workouts. Once you have done this, you want to start off slow. If you haven't been exercising at all, start on level ground. After a few weeks, start walking the hills after stretching properly. Do it for about 30 minutes or so every day to get the best results.
When you're hill walking, you want to make sure that you're walking as you normally do. Don't strain your body in any way. Rather, keep good posture and walk up the hills and back down them. You should feel your calves and thighs working to propel your body forward. Keep your balance and try to keep a steady pace to make the most of your walks.
Benefits of Hill WalkingHill walking is a relatively easy way to increase your muscle tone. Because your body is not used to walking up and down hills for a long strength of time, the muscles in your legs are forced to work harder to keep you going. This adds definition to them as they are broken down and built back up again throughout the course of several workouts. It's important to remember that you are putting real stress on your leg muscles, so start off easy and allow yourself the time to adapt to hill walking. You don't want to hurt yourself by doing this type of exercise.
Seeing Results From Hill WalkingYou should see added definition and tone to your muscles after hill walking for just a couple of weeks. Once you get the hang of it, challenge yourself to walk up and down taller hills. Keep pushing yourself in order to get more fit. You'll be surprised at what a difference it makes to add hills to your walks. Hill walking truly is one of the best toning tools available.
