How to racewalk

If you're tired of freestyle walking programs, you may be interested in accelerating your program by learning how to racewalk. Perhaps you want more of an aerobic workout. Or you want to pick up speed. Or maybe you're craving competition. If so, learning to racewalk may be a natural next step for you.

By using the technique of racewalking, you'll be able to move faster and raise your heart rate well into the target range, even if you are already quite fit.

Racewalking can maximize your walking workout. Here's why: At racewalking speeds of five miles per hour or more, it is actually more efficient for your body to jog than to walk.

You can experience this for yourself. Try walking as fast as you can, and you'll feel your body aching to jog. In order to continue walking and not break into a jog, you have to keep one foot on the ground at all times. You can't use that gliding motion -- when both feet are off the ground -- that allows joggers to cover more distance with each step. So in order to cover the same distance, you have to take more steps than you would if you were jogging.

The Advantages of Racewalking

There are many advantages of racewalking for fitness. At high speeds, racewalking actually involves a higher rate of muscle activity and burns more calories per mile than does jogging at the same pace. According to James Rippe, M.D., of the University of Massachusetts, racewalking burns 120 to 130 calories per mile -- that's more than running (which burns between 100 and 110) and certainly more than freestyle walking.

Racewalking also gives your upper body a healthy workout. In order to walk at high speeds, you have to pump your arms vigorously. This movement helps tone and strengthen the muscles in your arms, neck, and chest as it burns calories.

All this extra activity shows up in increased health and fitness benefits. Indeed, elite competitive racewalkers have physiological profiles that are comparable to those of distance runners. They have low body fat and a high ratio of "good" to "bad" cholesterol, according to a study conducted at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Another advantage of racewalking is that it can be practiced as a competitive sport, and it's an excellent way to add challenge to your walking program. It can be practiced and enjoyed in or out of competition. (Try doing a Web search to find the racewalking club nearest you.)

Racewalking does put greater stress on the ankle, knee, and hip joints than does freestyle walking, however. (Whenever you increase the intensity of an exercise, you increase the risk of injury.) But the strain is less than that caused by jogging, because you always have one foot on the ground when you racewalk.