Intermediate Training - Taking It To The Next Level (Intermediate Training)

    Do you walk the same distance and pace most every day?  Do you feel like your fitness improvement has stalled?  Do you want to prepare for a walking race or relay or the "Perkinstown Tramp"?  If you have graduated from the Beginners schedule, it may be time to get into a schedule with a variety of walking workouts that begins to develop your speed, distance, and aerobic fitness level.

    During this intermediate training, you will be working on developing speed, distance, and aerobic fitness.  Therefore, you will learn and apply techniques for determining and maintaining your speed.  Secondly, you will be setting distance goals and going after them.  Finally, you will be doing all of your workouts at some aerobic level that you feel comfortable with.


Managing Your Speed

Feel the need for speed?  Walking faster can satisfy several goals.

1.    Finish your walking workout faster at a set distance.
2.    Get your heart rate up to your target level.
3.    Increase calorie burn by being able to walk a longer distance in the same time, or by increasing speed to the point you are burning more calories due to using more muscles (12 minute miles and under).
4.    Finish walking races in better time.

The following techniques are not legal race walking technique, and so it cannot be used in judged race walk events.  It borrows good posture, stride, arm movement and other elements from race walking to have you walking faster and more efficiently, turning more of your exertion into forward speed.

Before you get faster, take some baseline measurements to see how fast you are now and where your heart rate is.
    Speed For One Measured Mile:  This is a good standard measurement.  Use a local track or measure a mile with your car odometer.  Time yourself in walking this mile after you have warmed up for 5-10 minutes of walking.

    Heart rate:  Knowing what heart rate you currently achieve while walking can help you set goals when you speed up.  Warm up first by walking for at least 5 minutes.  Then take your pulse while continuing to walk.  Measuring for 30 seconds to a minute will give you better accuracy. Or, you may use a heart rate monitor.

Coach Dave McGovern says, "to go fast, you have to go fast."

Speed Workouts

Setting and Going After Your Distance Goals

Working Toward Your Aerobic Fitness Goals

Types of Aerobic Walk Training

Easy Health Walk:  30 minutes daily at 50-60% of MHR.  This is a purposeful but comfortable pace.  Builds long-term health and well-being.

Weight Control Walk:  60-70% of MHR for 45-60 minutes daily.  This is a brisk pace with noticeable breathing but you can still carry on a conversation.  The longer time period at this moderate pace will burn calories and give the body time to draw on its fat stores for energy.

Distance/Endurance Walk: 65-80% of MHR for 5-10 miles.  Once per week. Builds endurance.  If you are planning to participate in a 5K or 10K race, your distance walk should exceed the race distance by a mile or two.  Joining in a local non-competitive 10K volkssport walk is a perfect way to include this workout.

Aerobic Walk: 70-80% of MHR for 20-60 minutes, every other day.  On the days in between, do the easy health walk or weight control walk.  This is quick walking with very noticeable breathing, but not out of breath.  Improves aerobic fitness.

Athletic Performance Walk (Threshold): 80-92% of MHR for no more than 50 minutes.  Once to three times per week, always with an easier or rest day in between.  See the suggested walking week below for some formats for these walks.  This is very fast walking with heavy breathing and you may have to adopt race walk technique or jog to attain this heart rate.

Economy Workouts: Short bouts of walking as fast as you can for 30 seconds, slow for 2 minutes, repeat 8-12 times.  For race walkers, this builds speed ability and technique. Once per week.

Weekly Training Schedule

The following weekly walking schedule, taken from Dave McGovern's race walk clinic and articles, is for every kind of walker, including fitness walkers and race walkers.  You can mix and match the workouts below.  The week should include one day of Economy workouts to build speed, two days of Threshold workouts to build aerobic performance, and one day of long distance. In between each of these workouts should be a rest day or a day of easy walking.

The key to these workouts is not to exceed your lactate threshold - working out so hard and long that your body builds up lactic acid in the muscles.  This occurs when you workout at 90% or more of your maximum heart rate for more than 50 minutes.  By knowing your Maximum Heart Rate and using a heart rate monitor, you can ensure that you are working out at the right pace for the various workouts.

Monday: Rest day. No walking of significant distance or intensity.

Tuesday: Economy Workout. Warm up for 10 minutes at an easy pace. Then walk as fast as you can for 30 seconds or 200 meters (two city blocks in most cities). After 30 seconds, drop down to an easy pace for 2 minutes. Repeat the 30 seconds speed/2 minutes rest 8-12 times. Cool down with a 10 minute easy pace walk.

Wednesday: Recovery. Easy 3 mile walk at 65-70% of your max heart rate. This is a pace at which you can easily maintain a conversation but are breathing harder than at rest.

Thursday: Threshold Workout #1 - Speed. 10 minute warm up at easy walking pace. Walk fast for 8 minutes or 1 kilometer at 85-92% of your max heart rate. Then slow down to an easy pace for 2 minutes. Repeat this for 3-4 repetitions. Cool down for 10 minutes at an easy pace. The threshold pace is strenuous, but one you could maintain throughout a 10 kilometer/6 mile race. You will be breathing very hard and able to speak only in short phrases.

Friday: Recovery. Easy 3 mile walk at 65-70% of your max heart rate.

Saturday: Threshold Workout #2. Steady state or tempo workout. Warm up for 10 minutes at an easy pace. Walk 20-30 minutes at 85% of your max heart rate then cool down with 10 minutes easy pace.

Sunday: Distance Workout. 8-12 kilometers (5-7 miles) at 70-75% of your max heart rate. This is a conversational pace.

This variety of workouts will ensure you get slow fat-burning workouts, aerobic carbo-burning workouts that also build and feed your muscles, and avoid overtraining and anaerobic workouts.

After stretching and mobility exercises, now you are ready to walk the main portion of your walk at your desired speed.