35 (w music): 10-Minute Power Walk Workout

Hey Walkers!

Ready to get some steps in? Here's a walking workout that not only gets your heart pumping, but also gives you an energizing boost... in 10 minutes or less.

Get moving during lunch, after dinner, or during a break. This podcast for walking has upbeat background walking music to keep you on tempo.

And guess what? You don't have to walk outside. You can walk at home, stepping in place or moving side-to-side. You can also head to your local mall to walk, or even get your steps in at Costco. 

Walking is a simple and powerful way to recharge your mind and body, getting you out of the “blah” zone. Fitting in workouts is not always easy, and this short coached walk will leave you feeling fantastic.

Quick daily walks:

•Boost your alertness and energy
•Help reduce stress (yay)
•Puts you in a better mood

Plus, walking is completely free and doable most people.

There’s a bell at the halfway point so you can turn around and head back.

So, lace up your walking shoes, shake off any tension, and see how many steps you can do.

Transcript

If you're walking outside, just start at a warm-up pace. Maybe a little brisker than usual because this is a 10-minute quick energy boost, so it's a bit of a power walk. You can do this indoors, you can walk around your house, you can go up and down stairs, or you can march in place. Take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. As you breathe in, you want to relax your stomach and let that oxygen fill up your lungs. And then as you exhale, you're going to tighten your stomach and expel all that stale air.

We're going to do a couple of these 10-minute walks. If you ever don't feel like doing a longer walk or you just don't have the time, just pop on one of these 10-minute walks and head out there. You'll feel so much better. And I can virtually promise you that. I can't promise you a lot of things, but that I can promise you. Roll out your shoulders. The 10-minute brisk walk that we're doing today can actually increase your mental alertness and your energy levels, which I need a lot of on both counts. So we're going to power it up a little bit faster. It's a brisk pace, an upbeat tempo. All of these 10-minute walks will have background walking music with a more upbeat tempo because these will be more upbeat walks.

Take a 10-minute break to do something good for you and your body, and you will feel so much better afterward. Roll those shoulders backward. Roll those shoulders forward. Make sure you keep breathing nice and deep. It's a brisk walking pace. So, walk as if you're late for a fun appointment, not a doctor's appointment, but just a fun appointment. You're eager to get there, but you're not too rushed or stressed. You just want to make sure you get there on time. You're cutting it a little bit close. That's the kind of pace you want to hold right now. Am I ever late? Always. Keep your breathing going now.

These short walks can reduce your stress hormones. I know it doesn't seem like it would do a lot, but it's amazing how much less stressed you feel after even short walks. It makes you feel more relaxed and energized at the same time. In the olden days, they used to apply everybody with all the meds—you know, you were taking Valium and amphetamines at the same time. You'd be like, "Ooh, I feel great, and I also feel so relaxed and calm." I mean, I didn't do that. I was just a little too young. I missed the cutoff. It was my parents' generation. Deep breath in through your nose again. Really fill up those lungs and exhale all that air out. You don't need all that extra air. Let's get some fresh air going in there.

The different 10-minute walks will focus on different things to keep you going, keep you motivated, and keep changing things up for you. So we're going to focus on quick steps, or you can do high knees for 30 seconds. If you're inside, that's really easy. If you're outside and you don't care what people think, that's just fine too. We're going to do about 30 seconds of whatever way you want to get your heart rate up just a little bit. 
And you're going to breathe, so you'll walk faster, step up and down on a curb, find some stairs, or walk with knees up. Or, you can do walking lunges if no one's looking—or even if they are. Boosting your heart rate like this is going to boost your energy even more. Okay, just like five more seconds. And then slow it down a little bit. Every step we take today is going to make us feel stronger and less blah. We're going to do it one more time. A little bit faster, and go! So lift your knees up or take faster steps. Go upstairs. Find a curb. If you see a hopscotch pattern on the road, if someone did that, do the hopscotch. I love hopscotch. I mean, I don't know if I could do hopscotch so much anymore, but maybe—you never know.

Then you're going to back it off just a little bit. Deep breath in again through your nose. Fill up those lungs all the way and then exhale again. Okay, one more time. Take faster steps, harder steps, knees up, stairs, whatever you want to do. These are just little 30-second bursts. Just feel how good you feel and how strong you feel. We've got 15 seconds left. You can do it. Whatever you're doing, just do it a little bit harder, five more seconds, and then back that off. Deep breath in again. Just one more time, I promise. And this time I promise is actually good, not like all the times I lie to you because I always say we're almost there, and sometimes we're actually not. Okay, 30 seconds, go, because this is going to give you more energy and refresh you. This is your own version of a power walk. Keep that breathing going. Feel a little bit of an effort there. We've got 15 seconds. Hold on to whatever it is that you're doing, whatever pace you're doing, whatever effort you're doing. Okay, you just got five seconds. You can do this. Feel that little push, and then slow that down a little bit. Another deep breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.

As you're taking these little walks, you can think about creative solutions for maybe some problems or issues that you have. Walking helps increase the blood flow to your brain, which sparks bright ideas. So if you are working on something or doing your kids' homework or doing your own homework and you're stuck, just head out for one of these 10-minute walks, especially these energizing walks. 

There will be refreshing walks, energizing walks, and mind-clearing walks in this 10-minute series. Another deep breath in now and exhale. Think about today—did this walk uplift you? Did you feel better? Did you feel more energized afterward? Then close your eyes if you can—not outside, but when you get back—and focus on how you're feeling and try to keep that feeling. Write it down, or just keep a mental note and associate it with something. 

Whenever you think about walking, try to capture that feeling again, because how you feel today, if you feel really good, that's going to get you to walk again. As you know, if you do something that doesn't feel good and that you hate, you're not going to want to do it. But if it makes you feel more energized, more focused, refreshed, or calm, you're going to do it again.

Slow it down more. Give yourself a little stretch when you get back. Drink some more water. Share this walk with your family and friends. They can do it even if they're on the other side of the country because walking and encouraging people to walk is the best thing that you can do. It's the best thing you can do for your friends. It's the best thing you can do for your loved ones because exercise, especially something like walking, is doable for most people and is the most amazing, magical thing for your health. Another deep breath in now. Slow it down a little bit. 

Drop me a note, drop me an email, drop me a Facebook message (yourwalkingpodcast), drop me an Instagram message (yourwalkingpodcast), just so I know that you're listening. I would love to hear that because it keeps me going. I'll see you next time.